Faith for the Gladers
by moonandstars27
Summary: As the first girl is thrown into the Glade, life changes for the Gladers. This fearless Greenie is determined to protect them and will do anything to save them, even if she has to suffer. Can her broken mind pull enough memories together to get them out? Or with the weight of the Glade on her shoulders, will she crash and burn?
1. Chapter 1

I woke up to complete darkness and a loud ringing in my ears. Where am I? What is this thing? Questioning no one but myself I couldn't seem to remember anything. No facts, ideas, or pieces of logic came to my mind. I had no idea who I was. My head was pounding and bile was rising in my throat. This cube I was in started to move upward at an increasing speed. Panic struck me and I was screaming.

"HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEONE, ANYONE"

I was answered with an echo and darkness. The crates and barrels around me began to shake from the momentum. I looked everywhere for a way out, anything to make it stop. When I glanced up there was something coming towards me, the roof to the shaft and I was hurtling at it. I screamed even louder realizing my impending death. I closed my eyes wanting not to see how I would end my short and memoryless life. Then the box stopped right before it slammed into the roof. I was thrown onto the top of the cage and then onto some boxes. I groaned at the jabs in my side and rolled onto the floor. I sat there for a while, racking my brain for any recollection of who I was. Nothing. I'm nobody. There were no memories to tell me who I was or am, I had no identity.

Then in a sudden, unexpected wave, it hit me. All of it. Pictures flashed through my mind showing me how the world worked, people in a busy city square, eating a pizza. As much as I appreciated this wave of half-memories, it increased the pounding even more so. But it was something, I had some collection of who I was. I was busy thinking to myself when I was hit with a flood of light, the roof of shaft opened. Momentarily blinded by the light, I couldn't see my surroundings. Unaware of basically what was outside of the box, I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard.

"Holy klunk, it's a girl"

I was somewhat surprised myself. During my self-interrogation, I hadn't really realized I was a girl, but I guess I am. I heard multiple gasps and some 'oohs' and 'aahs' as my eyes began to adjust and I looked up to see dozens of eyes staring at me. Those eyes happen to belong to rugged, dirty teenage boys. _Fantastic_ , I thought to myself.

"Is she hot?"

"I call dibs"

"No way shuckface, I get her first"

"You're too ugly slinthead!"

"Slim it!" the voice sounded authoritative and immediately the questions ceased. I hated the attention this box brought to me, but I felt it was more so the fact I was a girl, _great_. The cage shuttered as I felt someone jump in. I scooted back into a corner trying to shrink into myself and hide. A boy who looked about 17 with dark skin and cropped hair walked over to me despite my attempts to conceal myself.

"Welcome to the Glade, Greenie. Ain't no ticket back. I'm Alby" It was the same voice from earlier, probably the leader or something. He grabbed my arm but I flinched back, shoving his hand off me. I had no idea who these people were or their intentions, but I didn't intend to find out the hard way. "Shuck it, Newt! Get down here." I groaned internally wishing these people would leave me alone so I could try to recover the rest of my memories. Once again the box shook from this so called 'Newt' jumping in.

"Hey there Greenie," a surprisingly calm and soothing voice said to me. There was something weird about his voice though, his accent was foreign, but that didn't really matter now. I looked up and was greeted by chocolate colored eyes and shaggy blond hair. He looked pretty nice, definitely less intimidating than leader Alby. As we studied each other, I came up with a plan. I would open up to them, allow them to think I wanted to be helped as the precious girl who couldn't do anything for herself. Then as soon as I got out of the box, I would make a run for it. Okay time to initiate this plan, I said to myself.

"Where am I?" I heard my raspy voice ask the blond.

"The Glade, Greenie. But before we answer any more of these questions let's get you out of this box, yeah?"

I nodded my head in agreement, secretly proud my plan was working. The two boys led me over to the edge where they gave me a leg up. My first 'confrontation' with the other boys was their arms reaching out to pull me up. I stood up and took in my surroundings. I looked past the boys to find a giant pasture filled with grass and 'buildings' if you could call them that. They looked sketchy to me but sturdy as they could be I guess. I could tell from these buildings and the appearance of the boys that they were pretty poorly supplied but were able to survive. But as I studied more of the 'Glade' I saw this place was enclosed by giant stone walls with exits to whatever lay past them by gates in each wall. I felt a little claustrophobic realizing I was somewhat trapped. I came back to myself and realized I was still being watched and studied closely, I felt like an animal in a zoo. All the more reason I needed to act on my plan right now.

Alby and Newt were still getting out of the box and I saw my opportunity. I walked forward a little and saw the boys seemed intimidated and moved out of my way. Perfect. I moved again until they formed a semicircle around my back half and I had a clear view of the exit. I had to act now because I turned around slightly and saw Newt was out of the box with Alby right behind him. Okay, deep breath and sprint as fast as you can. I turn back to the front and start running. I heard yelling and curses coming from the boys.

"Shuck, Minho get her!" I hear Alby yell, but I put my focus on the exit.

My feet pounding on the grass, heart beating crazily with adrenaline and my hair blowing behind me. I felt so free running and I realized I was halfway there. I had to admit I was fast. I smirk and push myself harder. I can hear someone breathing heavily behind me and I panic. I'm so close to getting out of here. I keep running and soon I approach the threshold of the exit. I enter the 'hallway' when I'm tackled to the ground. I hear the grunt of effort as 'Minho' pins my arms down. I fight back with all my effort and kick him where I know it hurts. He groans and releases his grip on my hands slightly. But it's just enough for me to be able to stumble to my feet wishing I had run faster and wasn't dealing with this. He grabs my ankle right as I stand, I turn and punch him square in the jaw hearing a satisfying crack. But he doesn't let go, _ugh why can't he just give up._ I draw my arm back to punch again when Minho punches my abdomen causing me to fall on my back. He quickly gains the upper hand and sits on my stomach with his arms pinning me down. This all happens right as the rest of group reaches the threshold. They looked scared to enter and stay where they are. I bring my focus back to Minho where his jaw is bruising but his focus is on me. I consider our position and smirk. I have to admit he was attractive, his olive skin and dark hair, complimented by his muscular arms and I'm sure the rest of him as well. We study each other for a while and I give up a little and stop resisting.

"You know there's no need to cut off my oxygen," I say with biting sarcasm.

"There's reason enough so you won't run again," he replies. But I can tell he tries to take some weight of my stomach. "We need to get out of here."

From the threshold comes, "Minho bring her back here." Alby's voice yet again sounding more aggravated than last time.

I try to question why, but my body prevents that as it is racked with aches and pains. I groan which draws his attention but I avoid his gaze. My whole body is tingling and I can't feel my head. Black soon enters the edges of my vision and I can see Minho's dark hazel eyes widen and I see his mouth moving but I can't hear anything. My body shuts down and I am met with darkness for the second time today.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to the greeting of a very enthusiastic headache. My head was pounding but I ignored that when I took in my surroundings I had no idea where I was again. I was on a cot in a small building made of wood and sticks. I remembered yesterday and Minho and my almost escape. I seemed to be alone so I had some time to think. If all these boys were here and still alive and had seemingly decent lives here, why should I fight them? While I'll admit some were pretty vicious, they couldn't all be bad. I wasn't going to survive constantly being beaten and tackled trying to escape. So, with the little resolve I had left, I decided to see how life was here then go from there. And that started when a boy came in. He stood a way back from me and glanced at me. I laughed to myself, Minho must have told them about my attack methods. He spoke to me first,

"Hi, I'm Jeff I'm a Medjack, can I check your head?"

"Don't worry I won't hit you, but yeah sure," I responded.

"You took quite a hit to the head yesterday, I'm guessing that why you passed out. Minho brought you back here, but you've been asleep for a day or so."

"Yeah I think it was shock as well." I noticed my wrist was wrapped and looked at him questioningly.

"You split your knuckles and sprained your wrist." I nodded in approval at the accurate description. I also noticed how he was curt, but not rudely, and straight to the point. I appreciated that about him.

"Well if you're feeling better, can Alby and Newt come talk to you?" he asked, unsure of my reaction.

"Yeah I guess I can't avoid them forever."

Jeff nodded and walked out and silence filled the hut, but not for long because Alby slammed the door and stomped his way over to me.

"What the hell, Greenie?!"

"Well good morning to you too, Alby."

I heard Newt snicker at my sarcasm laced comment, but laughed myself when Alby hit him in the ribs.

"Listen, Greenie. We're not here to hurt you, you're pretty safe here, and if you don't like it too bad you're stuck here until we're not anymore. You listen to us and do what we say. We have order here and a way a life and you're expected to follow that. When Newt here is finished, you'll get the tour and you begin your new life." He went to the door but turned back when he had more to say, "Also don't pull anymore klunk like yesterday again, it's against the rules."

"Sorry about him, Greenie." Newt said with his amusing accent. "He's not mean or cruel, just tough and hardened by the Glade. He's decent enough if you don't get on his bad side."

I interrupted him, "Which I've seem to have done already, yay me."

He laughed, "He'll get over it eventually. Well I need to inform you of our three rules of the Glade. One, do your part, we're not going to get anywhere with free loaders. Two, never hurt another Glader, we can't do anything without trust. Three, never go past those walls; which you've done already so we have to figure out your punishment for that."

I nodded as I grasped that's why I was tackled not because they wanted to hurt me. I did begin to panic when Newt said I had to be punished but I'll deal with it when the time comes. I didn't mind Newt, he seemed more understanding of my situation and more friendly. It felt like he wanted the best for me and was trying to help.

"Alright, Greenie time for your tour! If you'll follow m-"

I cut him off, "Why does everyone keep calling me Greenie? It's not my name."

Newt chuckled, "You earn that name when you come up in the box, it's because you're new. It only lasts for a month until the new Greenie arrives. What is your name though?"

"Faith" I said, proud of the one memory I had found in my deep sleep.

"Well then Faith, follow me to your tour of the Glade."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I followed Newt and Alby around the Glade as they pointed out the different jobs and boys positioned in the large square. I was least looking forward to trying out for Baggers, Builders, and Slicers, but I had to try out so whatever. The boys at those jobs were the rude ones. They sneered at me as I walked by, I was careful to avoid eye contact but I saw their eyes gazing at my body. I saw the way they glared at me like hungry animals does to their prey. We quickly moved on. We took a quick intermission for lunch which consisted of very delicious sandwiches. There, I was introduced to the Cooks and Trackhoes who were very nice to me, treated me like a Greenie, but none the less still a person and not an object as the previous groups had. Frypan and Zart, the Keepers, were kind and light-hearted. People I would definitely be spending time with.

We viewed the rest of the jobs and then Newt led me to dinner. Frypan had cooked up some potatoes and steak. The boys joked about how terrible it looked and smelled but let me tell you it was delicious. Newt led me to a table when he realized I had no idea where to sit or what to do. The table seated some Trackhoes, Rob, Darwin, and Michael; the Medjacks, Clint and Jeff, and the leaders, Newt and Alby. I was mid- shovel into my mouth being the starving, always hungry person I am when I caught Minho run into the Glade from the Maze as I was told it was this morning. I looked at Newt as I swallowed.

"I thought no one was allowed out of the Glade?" I asked.

"Well Greenie it happens to be my job to run the Maze," said a voice from the other side of me.

I looked to see that Minho sat down right next to me and had answered my question. I looked at his sweaty, dirt-dusted face then moved down to his flexed biceps. I looked away quickly as to not make him think I was admiring him although I was, well kinda. He was definitely the type of person to take comments and add them to his already inflated ego. I decided to tease him a little, especially to add to the fact I beat him up yesterday.

"Well first of all I didn't ask you, did I? And second how is your jaw? Looks a little beat up to me." He looked taken aback at my comments but I could see the fire in his eyes. So, he fired back,

"And how is your wrist princess? I see it's all wrapped up, probably because it couldn't handle my beautiful jawline."

I smirked, "Well it looks a lot better than your face does at the moment."

He laughed a big booming laugh, "Fair enough princess."

I groaned at the nickname, "My name is Faith by the way."

"Nah I like princess better," He teased.

The whole table laughed this time as I rolled my eyes. The boys laughed and joked with each other as I kept quiet and just observing. I understood that life here was what you make it. Make enemies and be closed off, you'll be miserable. Make friends and try to be positive, you'll thrive. I noticed Minho observing the other Gladers at the table as well, but he was certainly not quiet. He was arrogant but not in a douchey way, it was just his personality. I could tell that being one of the fastest in the Glade, being a runner, and above all being the Keeper of the Runners, didn't help his ego though.

Hours passed and still we laughed together until Alby said it was time for bed. Newt told me as we walked back to the sleeping area that since I was a girl I would be getting a room in the Homestead. Not because I was a girl but because the boys can't control their testosterone, which I agreed with, shivering at the thought of the Keeper of the Builders, Gally's, glare. He told me that he was next door if I needed anything. I nodded and walked into my room and sat down on the hammock. There was a small drawstring bag next to me with my name on it. It contained a blue sports bra, a white button down, a grey t-shirt, leggings, and pills for that time of the month. _Great_ , I thought, _being in a stupid place like this, I wouldn't have to deal with it. Oh well._

I was lying in the hammock swinging side to side humming quietly thinking about everything that happened since I got here. _I'm a girl. I'm in a place called the Glade with nothing but supplies and teenage boys. We are surrounded by a giant maze. I tried to escape through the maze and failed. I've been here for 2 days._ I continued until I covered all the information I had. Then it hit me that I had no idea what I looked like. My breathing hitched as I felt panic rising in my throat. Tears came to my eyes as I understood what kind of life this was. You could make it decent and lively, but it was all a mask over the fact we had no idea who we were or used to be. Tears began to fall. How could the Gladers just accept the fact that we're nobody's? We have no memories! And they just pretend everything is fine! This wasn't a life I wanted to live, I needed to get out of here. I rushed outside of the Homestead and ran as fast as I could to the wall that kept us here. That locked us in this place they called home! They didn't even know what home was! It sickened me. I wanted to die, this isn't okay. I slammed my hands against the walls and screamed and kicked them hoping they would crumble beneath my touch. I wanted to get them out of here, wanted them to realize this isn't life. I screamed louder and punched harder. I felt a warm liquid run down my arms from my hands but I didn't care. I needed to break the wall.

I didn't realize I was sobbing until I felt arms pick me up and carry me away from the wall. I let myself be carried away, away from the unmoved wall that taunted me from its great height. I was carried back to the Medjack Hut where I awoke this morning. He set me down on a cot and moved to the cabinets to get bandages. I didn't realize who HE was until I looked at his hair and build. It was Minho. I sighed _Fantastic, just the person I need to see me breakdown._ He came back and began to wrap my knuckles

"How did you find me?" I asked, I was at one of the secluded walls surrounded by the forest.

"Well it wasn't exactly hard with all the screaming," he joked. "I was out by the wall already when you started attacking it." I was about to ask why, but the answer came soon after. "It's where I think best, besides running."

I nodded my head in recognition and let him focus on my hands. There was blood streaming from my knuckles which I happen to split open again. I sighed and scolded myself internally for letting my emotions get so out of hand.

"Do you want to talk about it?' the question knocked me out of my thoughts.

"I just don't understand how you all can deal with a life like this. How do you think that this is life? How can you not come to terms with the fact that this is not okay? We shouldn't be living like this at all, we have not the slightest idea who we are and no one seems to care," I sighed.

"You really think that every day we realize we don't know who we are or why we're here? Or that we can't accept that fact so we live around it? We've all accepted it, we all know that we shouldn't live like this. We just choose to make the best of it, we chose a long time ago to live with it. If we didn't live like we are now, people would be killing themselves every day, but we made it bearable for ourselves. You need to understand that this is what it is, until we find a way out." He said, his cheeks flushed from talking. He finished wrapping my hands in silence. "See you tomorrow, Greenie." He said as he walked out the door in a huff.

His words struck a spot in my heart. I shouldn't have been so arrogant as to think the Gladers didn't understand their situation. Those words stuck with me as I walked back to bed able to sleep with some peace. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring but I knew I had to be positive and believe the Runners would find a way out. I had to believe or there was no hope for me. I had to have faith.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke the next morning with a gasp that was inaudible because there was a hand covering my mouth. My eyes widen in panic but calm down when I realize the hand belongs to Alby. He pulls a finger to his lips mimicking the quiet sign. He takes me away from the rest of the sleeping Gladers over to a maze wall. He holds a knife in his hand causing anxiety within me, but I keep it quiet. We approach the wall and I can names engraved all over it. Some crossed out, some more prominent than others, and some small. He points to the wall as he begins to lecture me.

"This wall of names symbolizes our family. It shows our unity and power together. We lost a few in the early days of the Glade to fear, panic, violence, and mistrust. We have come together since then. We have trust, less panic, little to none violence, and fear is still there but the Gladers help each other through it. When you carve your name on this wall, you become one of us, a part of the family, a Glader. So, Greenie or should I say Faith," he holds the knife out to me, "join the family."

All my anxiety disappears when I grasp the purpose of the knife. I take it from his hands and bring it to the wall. I pick a spot above Nick, under Minho, and next to Newt's. That seems to be literally where I fit in. I finish carving my name as the doors open and the runners risk their lives again to save us all. I wish Minho luck from inside my head and hope nothing horrible happens. I realized from last night that I want to protect and save these Gladers, so I need to be a runner. I decide to bring it up with Newt when I try out for Trackhoes as that's where he spends a lot of his time.

Before I go to breakfast, Alby tugs me away to show me something else. We walk up to another part of the wall and he pulls some ivy away from a small window in the wall. We stand there for five minutes staring at nothing and I grow anxious.

"Alby what are we doing her-"

"Shhh just wait. One'll come around soon enough."

Wondering what 'one' is I wait some more. Then something comes around a corner and I inhale sharply. In front of my eyes is a disgusting half slug half robot creature. It looks like a large slug with teeth and slime dripping from every inch of it. Its legs are robotic but are equal to a spider's. Panic strikes my whole body and I get goosebumps. Alby interrupts my nightmare,

"We call 'em Grievers. Nasty creatures they are. That's why you're not allowed in the maze. No one has ever seen one and lived to tell about it. That's why the runners' jobs are so dangerous because if they don't make it back before those doors close, then they're stuck with those things in the maze all night. And no one's every survived a night in the maze."

I shiver at the thought of being stuck in a maze at night with those things. Sounds horrific. _And now I'm expected to eat breakfast, ya right. That's most definitely not happening after seeing that_. I'm about to walk my way over to breakfast to sit with Newt before my job trials but Alby once again grabs my arm.

"Sorry Greenbean, no breakfast or job trials for you today." I look at him questioning and he continues. "You broke one of our rules by going into the maze." _Ohhhh right I totally forgot about that and what Newt said about my punishment._ "You'll be spending the day in the Slammer, Greenie. Jack'll be by later with food. C'mon I'll take you." He guides me over to my prison of the day. I jump in and he locks it behind me. I scowl at him for thinking I'll try to 'escape' again. "Hey, don't give me that; it's just precautionary. See ya Greenbean."

 _Well this is going to be a very boring day._ I decide to get some more rest knowing I'll need it for the days ahead. I guess I slept for a good few hours considering when I get up the sun is high in the sky and the Gladers are at lunch. I see Jack walking over with a plate of food and I want to squeal. I'm soooo hungry. No wonder the Gladers practically inhale their food, being here works up an appetite. Jack greets me and hands me my food through the bamboo. I shovel it into my mouth so fast and it tastes so good. Jack thinks it's hilarious because he's laughing so hard, he's snorting. I start cracking up and soon we're both dying laughing. We talk for a little while more and it's nice to have some company. Then he has to leave to work but promises he'll visit later. I thank him again and get comfortable knowing I only have a few hours left.

Newt comes to visit a few hours before dinner and we chat about some random things like his crops and my job trials.

"Ya know Newt I think you love your plants a little too much," I tease.

He gasps in mock offense and puts his hand on his heart, "That's so rude, I think I'll let you out tomorrow for that comment."

"Noooo please it smells like feet in here, let me out," I plead with him.

"Take it back and all will be forgiven," he smirks.

"Ugh fine. Sir Newt I am so sorry for offending you and your precious plants. They mean so much to me and I'm sorry," I apologize, sarcasm evident in my voice.

"Uh huh sure you're sorry, whatever. C'mon on out." He helps me out of the Slammer and we make our way over to dinner. "Ya know, you and Minho are exactly the same. You are both very sarcastic, pretty shucking violent, fast runners, and have HUGE egos," He mentions with a sly smile.

"How dare you?!" I gasp at him, "I am nothing like princess Minho." I say with a smirk.

We both are laughing hard when we hear a throat clear behind us. _Uh oh._

"Princess Minho?" Minho asks looking between Newt and me.

"Oh shuck. Run for it," Newt whispers to me

I turn and make a dash for the Deadheads. I think to myself, _this is a lot like my first day here._ My feet hit the ground in a rhythm that is unique and my hearts beats like crazy. Unfortunately, I trip over a root and crash to the ground in a heap. Minho can't slow his momentum fast enough and falls on top of me. I groan slightly but am overcome with laughter at the situation. He begins to laugh as well and now there's no stopping us. We're giggling like insane people and Newt just shakes his head as he comes over to us.

"You two are bloody psychotic," Newt chuckles.

"Well Newtie, it happens to the best of us." I say imitating his accent.

"Was that supposed to be his accent?" Minho looks at me with a disapproving smile.

"Of course it was!" I say, trying to be British again.

"That was terrible it sounds more like this," Minho says in the accent with a smile on his face.

Minho's attempt was absolutely horrific yet extremely funny so yet again we lost our composure and burst out laughing. Newt just rolled his eyes and walked away to dinner. Minho stands up and offers me hand up. I accept but he must have overestimated my weight because I fall into him with the momentum from his effort. I face-plant into his chest, which might I add was very sculpted and toned from running. He steadies me and I blush a little from the proximity. I made a futile attempt to stop the blood rushing to my cheeks so I turn away.

"C'mon we should get to dinner before Zart eats it all." I say with a smile.

Minho chuckles as we walk to dinner. We sit down with the others and tonight I decide to immerse myself in the conversation. We change topics often talking about what Frypan puts in his cookies to make them so good to what job everyone thinks I'll get. The Trackhoes, Chuck, and Medjacks all think I'll be a Medjack or Cook, which I don't oppose to. Alby says he sees me at any job. Newt says a Trackhoe and Minho stays quiet until the whole table looks at him. I laugh internally at his ability to draw attention and dramatic effect. We're all waiting to see what he says, I'm most anxious for what job he thinks my abilities would suit.

"I think she should be a runner," he says quietly and leaves the table.

The entire table sits there in shock, not for the fact that they think I couldn't do it, but the fact that the Keeper of the Runners himself just recommended me for the most dangerous job in the Glade. The job I secretly want the most. We're all quiet for a while, most eyes study my reaction until Jack says,

"Well I agree with him actually. She did almost outrun him into the Maze on her first day here. I only klunked my pants my first day."

The table then reconsiders and nods their heads in agreement with Jack and I'm even more stunned. These people, the people I like to consider my friends, agree with Minho and think I could be a runner. I gain some courage and quietly say goodnight to the boys and go try to find Minho. I'm assuming he's in the Homestead because that's where the Keepers get to stay so, I go door to door knocking or peeking in trying to find his room. I finally come to the door across from mine and knock. Low and behold, a shirtless Minho opens the door. I can't find words as I take in his muscular body. His abs are perfectly shaped and toned and his arms in all their glory are shaped spectacularly. I've been staring too long. I meet his eyes and he gives me a knowing smirk that says 'Ha ha I saw you staring at me and now I know' _Crap I'm such an idiot and a female. Of course a shirtless male gets the better of me._

"Oh h-hi Minho," I barely get out of my mouth. _Oh my god Faith. Pull yourself together for the sake of this Glade and humanity._

"What's up Greenie?" He says with a grin. _Goddamn him and his perfect face and body._

I stumble over my words and can't string a sentence together. This is so embarrassing and blowing up Minho's ego even more so.

"Put a shirt on Minho, she needs to speak to you!" Newt chuckles as he walks behind us into his room. _Holy hell I'm going to kill him._

Minho just laughs and walks into his room and puts a maroon colored shirt on that accentuates his muscles. He invites me inside and I sit on the chair in the corner of the room facing him while he sits on his bed.

"So what did you want to ask me princess?" he asks me.

"I-Um-I… Did you really mean what you said at dinner?" I ask shyly.

"Yeah I really think Fry puts cinnamon in his cookies to make them taste better." He says with laugh.

"Ya know what? Nevermind I'll see you tomorrow." I say as I stand up to leave and make my way to the door. I'm not in the mood to deal with his sarcasm. He stands up after me and grabs my hand and turns me to face him.

"Faith wait, you know I was joking," he leads me over to sit next to him on the bed, "I really think you could be a runner. I mean you almost outran me your first day and you've got muscle and endurance," he says looking over my body and blushing a little. "I'll nominate you for a runner and talk to Alby. If he says yes then you can try out and run with me for the day. And then I'll ask for you to be a runner when you pick your job. Sound okay?"

"Yeah thanks Minho," I say taking that as my cue to leave. I stand and walk to the door but before I leave he says something else.

"Hey if you ever need someone to talk to I'm always here." He says nodding at my wrists and knuckles.

I blush a little thinking about my tantrum last night and look down at my hands. "Thanks Minho."

"Goodnight princess," he says with a smile.

I roll my eyes but respond, "Night princess Minho."

I close the door quickly after my remark but I giggle at the audible groan I caused him. But before I get the chance to hide out in my room, I find Newt standing in my doorway. _Oh great._

"So you and Minho, yeah?" he says to annoy me but does so with a smile on his lips.

"Shut up, I'm a Greenie and I've only been here 3 days." I say with a roll of my eyes.

"Yeah well, he seems attracted to you," Newt mentions with a wink. _Wait, WHAT?! Did he just say that Minho liked me?! Impossible he's Keeper of the Runners,_ I say to myself, _No one likes the Greenbean, Newt is messing with you._

"Yeah right, whatever Newt. See ya tomorrow," I say trying to end this embarrassing conversation.

"Mkay whatever you say Greenie, but I can see the way you two look at each other," the blond says wiggling his eyebrows, "but sure deny but love shucking wins." He says dramatically.

I roll my eyes amused and go into my room and lay on my hammock swaying slightly. I realized that if kept surrounding myself with positive things and didn't let life here take its toll on me, I would probably be just fine. I fell asleep surprisingly quickly despite the fact I didn't really do anything today. _Oh well,_ I thought, _I need to rest for job trials and especially running._ I was really excited I was being given a chance to prove myself but also a chance to prove I could save the Gladers. I slept soundly knowing life would be okay for tomorrow or so I thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**I came to on a table with people in white lab coats peering down at me. They poked and prodded me, stabbed me with needles, and moved my insides around. I screamed in agony. What did they want from me? Who are these people? Then my body is filled with a tingling sensation as the doctors converse around me, completely ignorant to my pain and pleas for help. A blonde-haired woman came into my view as she stood above me. I looked at her for help, maybe she could make them stop. She looked at me with cold eyes.**

 **"You did this to yourself, but oh well I guess we can learn from you." She whispered close to my ear, hate evident in her voice.**

 **I whimpered at her harsh words, wondering why no one seemed to care about my current state.**

 **"Remember Faith, WICKED is good."**

 **Wicked is good.**

 **Wicked is good.**

 **Wicked is good.**

 **Faith!**

"Faith!" I shot up screaming in my hammock. Newt shot into my room wondering why I was screaming at nothing. He took in my current state. I was sitting straight up, eyes wide in fear, mouth agape in shock, and shivers wracking my body cause me to shake horrifically. Tears streamed down my face but I didn't move to wipe them. I didn't do anything. I was too terrified of what I had just witnessed and felt. Newt moved inside my room with panic in his voice,

"What? What is it Greenie? What the shuck happened?"

I just shook my head in response. I didn't want to relive those feelings. I swear I could still feel needles pricking my sides.

"Well are you okay? Do you want to see Clint and Jeff?" he questioned.

Words finally came to me and I spoke, "No. No I'm fine just a nightmare."

"Must have been a bloody terrible one. You wouldn't stop screaming and thrashing around," he stated.

"Sorry if I woke you, Newt," I looked down, ashamed for drawing attention to myself.

"Quite alright Greenie, it happens to all of us. But if you're okay we need to get you to breakfast so you can start your job trials. I'll leave you to get ready, meet me at breakfast in 10." He said as he left my room and closed my door.

I rose from the hammock and began getting ready, still not grasping what I had just experienced. I thought no one got their memories back? Was that even a memory or just a nightmare? It sure felt real. Maybe Newt was right and it was just panic and being in the Glade combined into a nightmare. I decided I would come back to the topic later, for the moment I needed to go to breakfast. I changed into my grey shirt and leggings and walked out of my room.

Most of the Gladers were leaving the dining hall as soon as I arrived. I guess I slept in late, but figured Newt would let me off the hook this time because of that whole ordeal. I grabbed a plate of eggs and bacon and sat down next to the second-in-command. We ate in a comfortable silence but I realized he was studying my expression to make sure that I was actually okay.

I turned to look at him, "Admiring the view, Newtie?" I drawled sweetly.

He rolled his eyes but blushed slightly, "whatever Greenbean. Today you'll start with the Slicers and then after lunch you can work with the Medjacks. Good that?"

I was still getting used to their foreign words and lifestyle so, I just nodded and continued to eat. Newt led me over to the Slicers and formally introduced to the pimply-faced Keeper, Winston. He was decent enough but I could tell from his demeanor he didn't think I would be able to handle the job. I rolled my eyes at the sexist actions but sucked it up. Newt left us to kill some animals and Winston gave me the run down of the job for the day. Our job was to slice up a pig for dinner. He showed me how to carve the most meat from the bone and turned to give me the knife but hesitated,

"Actually Greenie, I doubt you can cut up a precious animal. Why don't you just admit it's too hard for you to slice up a little piggy and we can both continue on with our lives."

I was slightly offended that he considered me to be too delicate and simple-minded to cut up some meat. Although the copious amounts of blood and the stench of death in the air made my stomach turn over, I wasn't going to let that show. Rage boiled under my skin, but I wasn't going to break another rule. I calmed myself enough to think clearly and grabbed the knife from his hand. I sliced the pork just like he showed me how to, I completed the task perfectly. For good measure I slammed the knife into the counter and stormed out of the barn. I could tell he was in shock. _HaHa I win this one Winston. One point for the Greenie! I probably just inspired a deep hate from him for me but I could care less._ Job-less for the morning, I wandered into the Gardens to inform Newt.

He looked like he was expecting to come to him, _wow he must've thought I couldn't handle it either. Now that's offensive._

"Done so soon Greenie?" he inquired mockingly.

"Yeah, there was nothing else to do after I finished cutting up the pig," I said in a fierce tone.

He was taken aback at my tone and statement, "Oh well-uh- I…,"he stumbled.

"It's fine Newt, I don't care," I said monotoned as he understood I had figured out his thoughts. "Can I go spend some time thinking in the Deadheads before I go back to work?"

"Ya sure Faith, go ahead. Just don't be late to the Medjacks." He answered.

I nodded in return and leisurely walked over to the forest and began to consider in deep thought what exactly had happened in my dream.

 **Third Person P.O.V**

It was mid-afternoon with the sun high in the sky when Minho came sprinting into the Glade. He keeled over and tried to catch his breath. He slumped to his knees, his entire body aching from having to run so fast. Newt saw the commotion and ran over to him, worry in his eyes for his best friend.

"Why are you back so early? What the shuck happened?"

"Need…water," Minho managed to get out during breaths.

"Oh right, Michael go get him some water from the Kitchens," Newt directed at the boy. "And make it bloody quick."

Minho slowly came back in control of his body and breathing and proceeded to chug the water Michael delivered. Newt waited patiently but was anxious to here why the Runner was back so soon.

"Ben was Stung," Minho said at last with his never-lacking dramatic effect.

"What! In broad daylight?" Newt asked, stunned.

"We were running Section 7 and the Griever came out of no where and got him. It all happened so quickly and then after the Griever left, Ben was gone. I have no idea where he went."

"Shuck, someone go tell Alby and everyone spread out and look for him." Newt ordered the surrounding Gladers. Newt forgot all about Faith in the Deadheads completely unaware of the situation and went to tell the others.

 **Faith P.O.V**

I wandered further and further into the Deadheads deep in thought. _What could the dream possibly mean? Was it even real or did my mind create it?_ I confused myself even more. I needed to sit down. I found a thick tree and sat at the base trying to separate dreams from reality when I heard a scuttling noise behind me. I jumped up and whirled around looking for the source. I saw a metallic beetle move slowly across a branch and it turned to face me. There was something on the back of it; in white, block letters were 'W.C.K.D' Interesting, those were the same letters written on the crates in the box and basically all of our supplies here. The phrase 'WICKED is good' flashed through my mind again. The same thing happened in my dream. _But what was WICKED?_ Before I had time to inspect the 'bug' further it scuttled off. I would ask Newt about that later.

I kept asking my self the same question _Why was I being observed like a subject?_ Maybe this is some sort of trial like an experiment. Suddenly searing pain seized my body. Its grasp took a hold of my body causing it to shake. I let out a whimper as the pain began to dull. _What the hell was that?_ It seemed curious that the pain came right after my suspicions about this place. Did that mean I was right? That the Creators were trying to stop my thoughts before I uncovered more information? That seemed highly plausible and like—

A bush rustled behind me interrupting my thoughts again. I stood up again, but slower suspecting another beetle thing. But I was wrong, it was one of the Runners. Ben I think.

"Oh you scared me, it's Ben right? I'm Faith, the Greenie, wha-," my rambling was cut off when I realized something was off. His eyes were completely black and his skin a sickly, pale green. He was shaking, and I knew something was very wrong. "Hey are you okay?" I asked but there was no answer. Instead I was greeting with a growl that sounded like an animal as he lunged for me. _Fabulous, life here just gets better and better._ I screamed and fell on my back.

"You shouldn't be here! You're one of them!" he screeched as his hands tightened around my throat. I tried various methods to get him to release his grip. He didn't budge. Stars entered my vision and I panicked. I can't let him kill me. I try desperately to punch and get him off of me, nothing. I looked around and saw a sizeable rock just out of my reach. I shifted my body using my last full breath to grab it. Black spots clouded my vision but I felt the rough stone in my hands. Reacting immediately, I slammed the rock into his head, catching him off guard. This gave me just enough time to regain some my breath and stagger to my feet. But guess who also regained his footing, _Correct it's Ben!_ He makes the move to lunge again and I realize I can't handle this muscled Runner alone. I punch him and turn to run. Now it's a real test of my speed, endurance, and ability to handle attacks. Screaming as loud as I can, Ben and I race back to the center of the Glade. He growls inhumanely and starts to catch up to me. I push myself harder, I need to get help and I need to survive. I need to live so I can save the Gladers. I scream louder as we breech the tree line and the attention of the Gladers shift to the race. They start running towards me as I'm tackled by Ben once again. His nails cut my skin and his hands find their way to my throat. I shift underneath him again trying with all my might to fight him off.

He shook with rage, "This all your fault! You deserve to die! You did thi-," he is cut off as someone knocks him off me with a shovel. Ben groans and rolls to the side, releasing his death grip on my throat. I start to regain my vision and my breath returns to me. I hear the Gladers shouting at each other and around the tight circle they formed around us. My vision back, though a little blurred, I can just barely make out the faces above me. My vision clears up and I make out Alby, Newt, and Minho looking down at me worriedly.

"Jesus Greenie, can't you keep yourself out of trouble?" Newt jokes with a slight scowl.

"You okay, Greenbean?" Alby looks pointedly at me.

In response, I roll over and throw up blood. I'm shocked as I see the bright red fluid spread on the grass. I turn back over and groan.

"Shuck," I hear Minho whisper.

I move to sit up but he pushes me back down. "No way, sit there until you stop throwing up," the Runner orders.

I mumble but lie back down. I push back down the blood that was threatening to make an appearance and focus on the Gladers and situation at hand. Gally, Zart, Winston, and a few other Gladers are holding Ben down. Alby walks over to him and assesses his appearance. Fear and shock make their way onto his face and he orders his shirt to be lifted. There in the middle of his stomach was a hole filled with oozing blood and pus. The veins surrounding this hole were purple and protruded from his pale skin. Ben must've realized what he did and what was happening because he looked pleadingly at Alby.

"No, no, no, no. Alby please you can't do this to me. I can get better I promise! Please Alby don't do this." Ben begged.

Alby looked at the ground wishing to avoid condemning his friend. "Put him in the Slammer."

This angered Ben and he raged at the boys holding him down, "NO ALBY! Listen to me, please!" His desperate cries faded as he was dragged away.

The focus of the remaining Gladers rested on me lying on the ground with bruises all over and blood dripping out of my mouth. Alby orders Minho to get me to the Medjacks immediately. I moan in pain when he lifts me up from the ground.

"Sorry princess," he said solemnly looking down at me.

I smile weakly at him as he carries me bridal-style to the Hut. The boys direct Minho to a cot as they gather supplies to try and fix me. I wince as he sets me down as carefully as he can. I know he feels bad for causing me pain but I can't help it. Bruises cover my skin giving me a blue hue about me. My neck hurts like shit as well. There's an incredible amount of pressure on it and I'm not sure why. But I try to take deep breaths and calm down. That's nearly impossible when my chest feels like it just caught flame as Clint touches it. I yelp and move my body away from his touch, squinting my eyes and trying to breath. I squeeze all my muscles and tense up. I can't handle the flames burning my lungs and the pressure on my neck. I scream as the fire increases and the pressure builds. I hear Clint faintly telling me to relax or I'll make it worse. I put all my will power into trying to breathe and release my muscles and relax. At some point, Minho grabbed my hand and squeezed it, giving me a sign he was there. I thanked him silently. The painkillers Jeff gave me finally kick in and I'm able to focus on what Clint is saying.

"You seemed to have dislocated a few ribs and obviously have bruises all over." He diagnoses.

"Obviously," I cough in response with a smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace.

Clint rolled his eyes but continued, "Jeff is making a salve that should help with the bruises but your ribs need some time to heal. So we'll keep you here for a few days after we put them back in place. You should be fine though." He finishes. He walks over to me and gives me a warning that this is gonna hurt like hell but it should feel much better right after. I grip Minho's hand for dear life, not realizing I have a death grip on him.

"Okay ready?" I nod.

"Alright on 3, 1. 2. 3." My chest ignites with a burning fire that melts my skin. I scream in pure agony and at the moment hatred for Clint. My lungs feel like someone stabbed them multiple times and at the same time lava is flowing through them. But soon the heat dies away, and it's not unbearable anymore. I open my eyes and whimper again. Clint was right, the salve Jeff is spreading on my neck and chest feels amazing. It soothes the burn and discolors the bruises a little. I loosen my grip on Minho but don't let go completely. _It was nice to have someone with me through that hell._

"Thanks guys," I say politely trying not to let my pain get the best of me.

"Anytime Greenie, we'll leave you two **alone** ," Jeff says with a wink as he walks out the door with Clint behind him. _Ughh seriously, I wished people would stop making comments like that._ I turn to look at Minho and find him studying me already with those dark hazel eyes. _Oh my god, Faith seriously stop it._ I wanted to but I couldn't help myself, Minho was quite the attractive person, and his eyes were oh so mesmerizing.

"Well you gave me quite the scare Faith," he says, "You really freaked me out with the whole throwing up blood thing."

"Oh, sorry for scaring you princess," I saw with a smirk. He just chuckles in response.

"I'm glad you're okay though," He states with a shy smile and leans in for a light hug, careful not to hurt me anymore than I already am. I smile back at him when the door bangs open with Alby, Newt, Gally, and Winston behind it. _Ugh I'm not in the mood to talk to them, but I guess I have to whether I want to or not._

"Care to explain what the shuck happened out there, Greenie?" Alby shouts at me.

"I'm fine thanks for asking, just threw up some blood and was almost strangled to death twice, but yeah I'm just peachy." I say annoyed at his focus on the story instead of the results.

He rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed, "Blah blah glad you're okay, continue please."

I tell the Keepers around me about how I was in the Deadheads and the bug, Newt said they call them Beetle Blades, then Alby got mad at us for getting off track. I recalled how he looked strange and then attacked me and gave them the rest of the details. They all just stood there in a stunned silence looking at me and the hand-shaped bruises around my neck. They started arguing about some random things and I rolled my eyes at the amount of testosterone in one small room. Jeff comes in and yells at the guys for yelling when I should be resting. He promptly kicks them out but not before Newt gives me a reassuring hug letting me know he was glad I was okay. Minho gives me hand a squeeze and tells me he'll be back later. As soon as they all leave, I finally give into sleep that had been weighing me down. This whole ordeal really wore me out and I was exhausted. My heart rate slows and I fall into a deep sleep.

 **Author's Note:**

 **And there's chapter 4! Hope you all enjoyed and feel free to leave a comment. I promise Minho and Faith's relationship will get more romantic just wait. I'll be uploading the next chapter soon! Okay bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

I find myself coming out of a short, dreamless sleep and groaning instantly when the pain from the attack hits full force. I reach out to a table at the bedside. I search blindly for the jar that holds the salve that helps relieve the pain. I find it and take a generous amount and cover my bruising skin. Instant relief and I feel better. The attack happened before lunch and its not dark yet, so I must have a few hours left before dinner. I decide to hunt down Minho and Newt, I have some questions for them. I find the duo sitting at the line of trees marking the beginning of the Deadheads. I laugh at the sight of them. They're sitting huddled together and whispering back and forth. They look like two girls gossiping. It's hilarious. I giggle still as I walk over to them and plop down.

"Omg who are we talking about this time?" I laugh.

Minho laughs and engages me with sparkly eyes, "Oh ya know just the weird girl of the Glade." Newt snickers and slap both of their arms laughing as I do so. "You seem a lot better princess," Minho says taking in the sight of me laughing despite having dark purple hand marks on my neck. I shake off his concern with a sigh.

"It doesn't hurt too bad, but the salve Jeff made is amazing. I can hardly feel any pain."

"Well I guess that's good for us, can't have our Greenie moping around, can we?" Newt chuckles.

"Yup it's a very good thing," I giggle.

We chat for a while longer about nothing really and then the conversation dies down, but we sit in a comfortable silence. Minho is staring off into the distance thinking about who knows what and Newt is murdering the grass, stripping each piece into various strands. We sit like that for a while. Something to say, but at the same time nothing really to say. Nothing seemed appropriate after the events of the day. I was reviewing my conversation with Alby and Newt after the assault, and I remember they were talking about his punishment. I wonder silently to myself, but I run out of ideas for what that would be. I poke Newt and Minho in their sides simultaneously and they both snap out of their thoughts and jerk their attention to me.

"Bloody hell, what was that for?" Newt snapped. I just chortled at his reaction.

"Um, well you said earlier that Ben had to be punished. What exactly is going to happen to him?" I inquire.

Newt sighs and looks at his friend opposite him. They seem to be having a conversation through their eyes, and slowly Newt brings his eyes to meet mine, while Minho points his gaze downwards. I furrow my brows at his reaction but I look back to Newt anxious for an answer.

"He's going to be Banished, Faith." He sighs eventually. I look back to Minho for an explanation but he's avoiding my gaze. I turn to Newt with expectation in my eyes. He continues, "When the Doors are about to close we push him into the Maze." _Now I was really confused._

"I thought no one survives a night in the Maze….." Realization hits as I understand that it wasn't a challenge, it was a death sentence. Instead of killing him themselves, the Gladers let the Grievers handle it. Shock must have made its way onto my face because Newt squeezes my arm reassuringly.

"Look, we don't want him to die. We just don't have a cure for being Stung. If we keep him here, we risk hurting other Gladers and Alby and I aren't willing to do that." He brings his eyes back down to the grass.

I looked at Minho, finally understanding his solemn attitude. He stares at the ground with fury and pain burning in those hazel eyes. I can comprehend why; he's being forced to push one the Runners, one of his own into the Maze at night, knowing well he won't survive. Knowing this is a fight Ben cannot win. I feel terrible for him. I can't imagine sending a friend, someone who was family to you, to their death by terrifying creatures all around him, none the less in a towering maze. I wanted to lend my strength to Minho, so I try to convey my sorrows and sympathy to him as I take his hand and wrap mine around it. He looks to me at the touch and his eyes burn into mine. I can feel and see the pain and misery they hold. I have no idea how Minho holds himself together. As Keeper, everyday he could be sending his friends to their death, but he has to do it. And at that moment I feel for Minho. I wish I could help him, but there's nothing I can do except be there for him. And he knows that, at least I hope he does.

Sensing the moment passed Newt says, "We need to go prep for it, Faith. See ya later." The two boys stand and walk away from our grassy spot to talk with the other Keepers. _This is going to be one hell of a night._

Dinner was not served at the same time tonight. Instead, the Gladers gathered round the gate in the North wall. The Keepers stood up front with t-shaped poles in hand, while the remaining Gladers held pointed sticks. This was a frightening sight to me, even though I stood off to the side. Minho walked holding Ben by the ropes that bound his hands. He led him to the middle of the formation of the Keepers. He pushed him to his knees and cut the rope releasing his hands. Ben looked to Minho and Alby and pleaded,

"Please don't do this to me! I can get better, I promise." He made eye contact with me, "Besides she's the one you should be killing!" He lunged for me but Minho delivered a swift punch to his stomach before he could get any further. Ben fell to his knees again and he coughed spewing blood on the ground. I winced at the sight. Minho spared a quick glace at Alby who nodded his head in response. Minho through a pouch into the hallway causing Ben to whimper.

A huge gale of wind rushed through the tunnel and the doors creaked signaling it was time. Alby pushed forward with his pole followed by the other Keepers. They moved in their formation continually pushing Ben closer and closer to the Maze. He fought back but the sting made him weak and he couldn't push back enough to make a difference. The doors were getting close together now and with only final shove, they pushed him into the middle of the doors. Not wanting to be crushed, Ben ran to the other side of the doors, screaming as he did so. He let out one final yell and the doors closed sealing off his fate and his life in the Glade. Alby turned to address us.

"He belongs to the Maze now." He took one last look at the gigantic walls and walked away. The others followed suit until it was just Minho and I at the wall.

I was staring in disbelief, I mean I knew what they were doing I just didn't know that it would be so harsh, painful, and generally heartbreaking. I looked at Minho who was just glaring at the ground. I walked toward him cautiously not knowing quite what to do. He looked at me as I stood in front of him. I decided that he needed some comfort, so I moved forward to embrace him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he let himself go. We clung to the small of my back with a certain desperation. He put his head on my shoulder and sobbed quietly. I was his support right now and I needed to be strong for him. We stood there tangled in each other until he regained his stoic composure. He let go of me and looked at me.

"Thank you," he said softly and I could tell he really meant it. I nodded in response and we walked in silence back to the Homestead, our hands connected between us, neither of us hungry after what we had just witnessed. I kissed his cheek and we said goodnight, and separated into our rooms. Words not spoken as our eyes spoke for us. Anything we could have had to say was unnecessary, our emotions clear to one another. We cared for each other, more than friends.

So, another day ended unexpectedly. I was slightly giddy that Minho had showed his real emotions to me, but that was small underneath the pain of today. As I lay in my hammock, I could hear Gally chipping a line through Ben's name. Despite the havoc he had reeked on my body and mental state, I shed silent tears and said a prayer for him wishing him the best and no pain. I fell asleep that night with tears on my face and bruises on my body.

 **Author's Note:**

 **There's chapter 5! I hope you guys liked the sentiment between characters. Next chapter is gonna be busy so get ready for that. Please leave some reviews and let me know what you think! Okay bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

*TIME SKIP: ONE WEEK*

 **WICKED HEADQUARTERS:**

 **"No, no, no, you're doing it wrong," I said with a laugh looking at him.**

 **"Bloody hell, then show me how to do it!" Newt said throwing his hands up.**

 **I showed him how to actually put the code together for an image to show up. My hands maneuvered around the keyboard so quickly and effortlessly. He just stared at me in amazement. We sat there studying the Killzone brain patterns in silence. We studied the maps of our own brains looking at how we were different for the sake of humanity. Neither of us wanted to mention what was going to happen in the next couple of days. Newt and I just sat in silence until Minho came up behind me wrapping his arms around my waist. I laughed and turned to give him a kiss. It was soft and gentle, a perfect display of our care for each other. A smile made its way onto my face enjoying Minho's closeness a little too much. We pulled apart as Newt started gagging jokingly.**

 **"Seriously? Can't you take it somewhere else? Anywhere else!" he grumbled.**

 **"No," Minho said as he bent down to kiss me again. I sighed completely content for the moment.**

 **We turned back to study the brainwaves the activities that the other children were doing were creating. They had to run a mock of the maze while being chased by a less harmful Griever. I didn't like watching the terrified faces of my friends as they tried to make it out in time. I watched as Alby and Jeff turned in opposite directions looking for a way out. The cameras changed and this time I saw Chuck screaming and running as fast as his short legs could carry him. He was on the verge of tears running from the Griever. I quickly switched the computer off not wanting to view anymore. I turned to the boys, we couldn't avoid this conversation any further. They were being sent into the Maze in a day.**

 **"So," I said, not sure how to start a conversation like this. Newt scratched the back of his neck clearly uncomfortable, and Minho stared at the ground.**

 **Minho started, still in his staring contest with the tiles, "We're gonna be sent up tomorrow to Group A. They'll go through with the Swipe and we'll start over up there."**

 **I shivered at his bluntness and the lack of emotion in his voice. Tears welled up in my eyes and couldn't help but let them overflow. I was losing my two best friends to a fucking maze and all for the sake of a cure, that we don't even know exists.**

 **Newt wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "C'mon love, don't worry. We'll be fine! Mr. Macho here will be fine as well." Newt snapped at Minho, getting him out of his thoughts and making him realize how this was affecting me. He scooted closer and put his arm around my shoulder as well.**

 **"Princess, I promise we'll be fine. We're gonna make it out before you know it." He said reassuringly.**

 **"That's not the point!" I shouted. The boys were taken aback but I continued, "You're not going to remember anything. Nothing before the Maze. Not one single memory of your life. Not even me," I whispered sadly, wiping away the tears quickly. I was terrified of the idea of being alone with WICKED added to the fact my best friends will forget me in a day.**

 **Minho grabbed my head and pulled it into his chest. He enveloped his arms around my frame and held me as I shook from sobbing. All the memories we had made together, all of the friendships and time spent helping each other would be wiped away as if they were nothing. I cried harder. I finally was able to stop and I looked at them with puffy eyes.**

 **"I love you guys," I pulled them in for a tight hug, wishing I didn't have to let go. Our moment was interrupted when the intercom flashed on, "Newt and Minho, please report for the Swipe."**

 **I panicked. They weren't supposed to be taken up until tomorrow. Our short time was cut even shorter. Newt stepped forward to say goodbye first.**

 **Tears ran down my face as he said quietly, "Look out for yourself, Faith. We'll see you again when this is all over." He was about to let go when I squeezed tighter and whispered in his ear.**

 **"Keep an eye on him, okay? I can't lose him." He nodded in response and kissed my forehead. He walked into the hall and just like that one of my best friends was gone. Minho stepped closer to me and pulled me in for a passionate kiss. Our lips crashed together and moved against each other. It was filled with our emotions: pain, regret, hope, love, and of course faith for the future. He eventually released his grip, allowing us to regain our breath.**

 **"I love you so much, Faith."**

 **"I love you too, Minho. Please take care of yourself up there. Don't lose hope, keep fighting no matter what." Newt knocked on the door signaling, they really had to leave.**

 **"Have some faith in me princess," he whispered as he hugged me tightly again. He kissed my forehead and walked out the door. And there goes my boyfriend and best friend. I sat down in a chair, not being able to support myself as the weight of loss crushed me. I cried again. I cried for my friends, for the world, and for the unknown. I only hoped that life would get better and I would see them again.**

"Faith, get up!" Minho yelled into my room.

I shot up in my hammock almost toppling over. _Wait, what? I thought I was in that facility with Minho and Newt. What about the brain patterns? What were those all about? And what made us different? And what about Minho's and I relationship—_ My thoughts were cut off by searing pain coursing through my body.

"Aghhhh!" I moaned quietly. _Ok so I must be getting something right. These 'dreams' might be my memories coming back. If I get the right memories back, maybe I can really save the Gladers._ With a new motive instilled in my mind, I got out of bed and got ready to see what Minho wanted. I was mid change when he walked into my room.

"C'mon greenie! Seriously, we need to go or….. Oh god! I'm s-sorry." He stumbles as he blushes severely. I scream and push him out of the room. _Great! Minho just saw me without a shirt on, well I had a bra on, but still._ I groan and pull a shirt on quickly, but drowsily. I walk out the door to find Minho pacing in front of my room, scratching the back of his head. I lean against the door frame waiting for him to notice me.

I cough, "Don't think too much, your brain will explode." His head jerks up to meet mine and blood fills his cheeks.

"I-uh-I… I didn't mean to-uh…" He stutters, quite amusingly.

"Really Minho, it's fine, no worries," I say, slightly embarrassed, but enjoying him being the butt of the joke. "So, why did you wake me from my beauty sleep before the sun is awake?" I ask, clearly annoyed and tired.

"Well, we need to get you ready." _Ready? Ready for what exactly?_ Seeing the question in my eyes, he added, "You're running the maze today."

My mouth dropped open in shock, "Wait, WHAT?!" _He can't be serious._

"You heard me, greenie. Alby agreed to let me trial you and today's the day." He said smiling.

I couldn't form words. I'm finally gonna run the maze and find the way out of here.

"C'mon Greenie, we need to get you a pack and shoes," he says as he leads me out of the Homestead. We walk into the Deadheads and walk away from their civilization for a solid five minutes before we come to another structure made once again of sticks and wood. He opens the door with a key he wears around his neck and guides me inside. In this small little hut, is so much. There are cases full with paper with markings on them, a giant replica of the maze that surrounds us on the table, paper and pencils fill the extra room, and off to the side is a closet with drawers. Minho brings me over to the drawers and gives me dark blue tennis shoes that fit just right. He gives me a pack that crosses over my chest, and finally opens a drawer that contains weapons.

"Just to protect yourself," he states dully. I pick up three knives and store them in my pack and pick up a dagger to put in my front pocket. He looks at my choices, interested, but decides not to ask. I'm not sure why I picked these ones, but something was drawing me to them. Maybe I was trained to use knives or something, a dull pain throbs in my head telling me my guesses are correct. _Interesting._ We leave the Map Room, Minho tells me that's what they call it, to head over to the kitchen to get lunch from Fry. Then after we grab a bag filled with an apple, water, and a sandwich, we make our way to the wall where Newt awaits.

"Nervous?" Newt asks looking at me with worry. It looks like he's looking for a reason to not let me go.

Refusing to let that happen I answer confidently, "Not at all." I mean I'm not lying. I'm running with the Keeper of the Runners and running the shortest section. So, I'm not nervous, just excited.

"Well then, stay alert and keep up with Minho," Newt advises.

"Won't be a problem," I wink at Newt, earning a sarcastic chuckle from Minho. I nudge his ribs with my elbow. Just then, the Doors begin to open, showcasing the Maze past them. Newt wishes me luck and we're off.

I forgot how much I love running. My heart pounding, feet beating the ground in a lovely rhythm, and hair flying behind me. I loved it. I felt free and uncontrollable. I felt unstoppable. It was amazing to be away from the Glade. It was homey but I was trapped there. Here, there are different twists and turns and new things awaiting. Minho and I kept an even pace and before every turn, he told me to cut a piece of ivy. It was pretty easy. Okay, to be fair, I was sweating lightly and breathing heavily, but I wasn't struggling. We were about two hours in, and only about a fourth through the section. _Ugh, this might be harder than I expected._ But running gave me time to think. Time to think about my dream. _So, obviously the kids here are special, but I'm not sure why. We were students before the Glade, subjects to be exact. We were being studied and trained for something_. The throbbing returned to my head. I ignored it, I need to set myself straight before I move on. _Well, we were very smart, using all that advanced technology. So maybe we're here for our smarts?_ The throbbing decreased, so it wasn't that. _Maybe they're using us to save the world. Ow!_ The throbbing increased sharply. _Alright, so we are saving the world, but from what? Maybe there was an apocalypse or a disease._ Searing pain wracked my body causing me to fall to my knees.

"Ahhhhhh!" I scream causing Minho to turn around abruptly. I grip my head wishing the pain away, but it doesn't stop. It feels like knives are ripping apart my skull and bullets are piercing my body. I fall forward, now in a fetal position. Minho is in a panic. He grabs me and is trying to talk to me. I can't hear anything; the pain is too intense. Then as the pain hits the high, a voice speaks in my mind.

 **"Stop trying to understand your dreams. If you continue, the punishment will be fatal."** Then as soon as it started, it stops. All the pain halts, and the throbbing ceases. I unfold myself, but stay in Minho's hold breathing heavily.

"What the hell just happened, Faith?" Minho practically shouts at me.

"I don't shucking know!" I scream back, lying and shocking myself at my choice of words. I could tell he's laughing inside, but that's masked by his concern.

"That sounds very wrong coming from you shank," he laughed a little. "Are you okay? Do I need to bring you back to the Glade?"

"No, no I'm fine, just some aches and pains." I say, still recovering.

"That was not aches and pains." He says, disbelieving. "You were contorted on the ground, screaming in agony, and shaking. Definitely not aches and pains."

"I don't know what happened," I lied. "Just all of a sudden, all this pain attacked me." I sigh. I can't tell him about the dreams just yet, until I'm sure they're memories. They did say that no one gets their memories back.

"Okay then, are you sure you can continue?" He says rising from his crouch on the ground.

"Yeah, I'm fine, really. But you don't really need to tell anyone okay?" I plead with him. I'm hated enough for being a girl, but for having something wrong with me isn't going to help.

He looks unsure, but gives in to my pleading stare. "Fine, fine, I won't tell unless it starts recurring." We agree and stand up. We continue running and a few hours later, stop to eat lunch. We converse quietly, both enjoying our food too much for a heavy conversation. I decide to tell him how much I need and want to be a Runner. He tells me that he'll fight for me. We are packing up and about to continue, when a whirring and clicking start up. I have no idea what it is. It's not a beetle blade or another Glader, so what is it? Then it hits me. There's only one other thing in the Maze, and that happens to be a Griever. I panic.

"Oh shuck!" Minho whispers behind me. We both creep around the corner and see legs coming out from behind a wall. "We have to go! Now!" Minho yells and turns tail and runs. I stumble but run after him. We hear the Griever shriek with excitement, it found its next meal. We race around corner after corner trying to lose it, but to no avail because its legs clank and on the walls and ground right behind us.

"C'mon Faith! You have to keep running, don't look back!' And I don't. I refuse death's invitation and run like never before. We come within a few turns of the Doors. We keep sprinting and soon we can see the Doors. The Gladers are gathered around, probably because they heard me screaming and the Griever's shrieks. But they looked very worried and panicky. But I don't catch why soon enough. The Griever latches on to my ankle and throws me against the wall. My head thumps against the wall and I groan as I slide to the floor. My vision is blurry but I see the large slimeball approaching quickly. I have to get out of here. As I go to move, I fall back down. I look down to see why my legs have failed me. There is a huge gash running down my leg with blood spilling out of it. _Great! With this thing, they'll never let me back in the Maze._ That should have been the least of my thoughts.

The Griever was screaming as its legs moved furiously to get to me. Its back leg extended over its head as its Stinger approached my chest. But then Minho jumped in front of me, dagger in hand. He fought with the arm and slowly moved it away from me. He got it to follow him away from the Doors and moreso into the Maze. He must of lost it eventually because pretty soon he's running back towards me and picking me up. He seems pretty rushed, and I wish I could tell him to chill. I mean like we have our whole lives to live in this Glade, why is he in such a hurry to get back. And why can't I feel my legs? _Oh right! I'm suffering from blood loss! As a matter of fact, I'm going to bleed out any second. Maybe that's why he's rushing. Aww he doesn't want me to die! How kind!_ I turn my hazy attention back to the Gladers at the Doors, and now they're panicking even more! There's no Griever behind us so—the Doors! They're closing.

Minho's basically dragging me along, but then decides to pick me up and run. I try to be as light as possible. He's been running all day and know he has to carry me. The doors are about 5 feet apart as we run through them. He sets me down and tries to catch his breath as the Gladers bombard him with questions. He tries to answer them but just can't. I turn my attention to the warm liquid running down my leg. I put my hand on my leg, effectively coating it in blood. My blood. It's warm and red and feels funny on my hand. I giggle to myself as I lose more and more consciousness. The Gladers turn to look at me and then realize my condition. They rush over to me and say words I can't hear. They tell me things that I don't listen to. Clint and Jeff start pushing on my leg and wrapping it quickly. They tell me to stay awake, but I can't. They tell me to hold on, but I'm losing my grip. I just can't.

 **Third Person P.O.V**

We had just finished lunch and were back at our jobs when we heard a scream fill the Glade. Our heads popped up and looked out towards the Maze. That sounded oddly like a girl. Hmm. Maybe it was the Greenie. Oh jeez! What if a Griever is chasing them? I don't want her to die; she just got here and she's really nice. Plus, she's smoking hot. Those green eyes and dark brown hair paired with her tanned skin. Beautiful. We sat down to work again when another scream resonated. That was no Glader. That was a Griever. We all run over to the Doors where Minho and Faith had run out of this morning. Newt tried to get us back to work, but to no avail.

"Okay fine." the second-in-command says, "We'll make sure they get back okay, but then back to work."

We stay around the Doors for a few hours when we see Minho and Faith sprint around the corner. They're running for their lives and I can see why. A Griever is right behind them. We all scream for them to run faster. They need to get back here now, or they might die! We yell words of encouragement, when Faith is grabbed by it and slung against the wall. It's horrifying to watch her face contort in agony and shock as she's attacked. Her leg was split open by its claws, and now there is blood pouring out of it. She is in shock, her leg is too damaged to get up. The Griever moves closer to finish her off with a Sting, but Minho jumps in front of her. He fights with it and leads it back into the Maze.

There's a pool of blood surrounding her now. Her face is drained of all color and she's slipping into unconsciousness. Minho starts running back to her and has one arm under her shoulders and is basically dragging her. He decides to pick her up and carry her back. But he's out of time, the Doors are closing.

"C'mon Minho! Hurry up!"

"Drop her! Run for yourself! Leave her!"

"Minho! RUN!"

The Doors shut just as he steps into the Glade. He sets her down and he coughs trying to catch his breath. He can't form words or control his breathing.

"What the shuck happened?"

"Was that you screaming?"

"Did you get Stung?"

"Someone go get Alby!"

Minho can't answer the questions, but he finally gets his breath back. He's about to answer, when someone starts giggling. We turn to look at her. Blood is still pouring from her wound. Her hand is covered in her own blood and she's laughing. It's crazy creepy. Clint and Jeff pounce on her and get right to work. Her eyes grow heavy and I can tell she's dying. She can barely keep her eyes open. She's lost too much blood. Clint applies a lot of pressure to her leg, getting other Gladers to help. Jeff wraps furiously. Newt ties a tourniquet around her thigh, and it helps just barely. The laughing stops abruptly. Her chest isn't moving. There's no breathing coming from her. This causes more panic from everyone. People are yelling and chaos ensues. Clint is pumping her chest, right over her heart trying to restart it.

"C'mon, Faith. C'mon!" he yells.

Minho is staring at her with a blank look. There's no emotion is his face, all the color drained from it. Tears well up in his eyes, but he doesn't let them overflow. He just saved her from the Maze for her to die right before him. Newt stares with rage in his eyes at the girl on the ground. The girl who wanted to help is dead, all because of the Creators. A deep breath and spluttering cough interrupts their thoughts. Faith's alive. She's breathing again, just barely, but she's breathing. Life floods Minho's eyes and Newt softens. Clint and Jeff carry her to their Hut with Minho, Alby, Newt, and Gally in tow. The other Gladers hesitantly go back to work, gossiping about the horror they just witnessed.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Okay that's chapter 6! I'm sorry it took me so long to upload. This chapter took a lot longer than expected. Let me know what you think and what i can add to the story! Give it a review and a follow so you can keep up with it! Hope you enjoyed! Okay bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Faith's P.O.V**

Hours slipped by as I passed in and out of consciousness; I could sometimes feel the aches and pains of my wounds and would not be able to hold in a groan, but other times I didn't even know I was awake, I couldn't feel anything. I didn't know who was with me or where I was for that matter; but my hazy mind didn't seem to care or feel the need to inform me. I wanted to know but I slipped back into a dreamless sleep. I woke up again after what seemed like days, to shouting.

"Really Minho?! How could you think this was a good idea?" Gally's voice yelled. "I mean look at her!"

"Oh, I'll show you a good idea you shuckface!" growled Minho in response.

"Hey, knock it off! Newt and I both signed off on it, leave it alone." Alby ordered.

The shouting caused my head to throb worse than it already was, and I felt my face cringe. I must've drawn their attention because it went eerily silent. My head pounded worse, and I let out another groan.

"Yeah Minho! I mean what a terrible idea." I said with a smirk, eyes still closed. I opened my eyes just enough to see his reaction and then opened them all the way to take in my surroundings. _Oh boy, back in the Medjack Hut! God, I can't seem to keep away from this place. That needs to change, fast._ Minho's face was a mixture of confusion, shock, and joy all rolled into one. Immediately, they all crowded around me, hurling questions at my still blurry mind. I couldn't handle it; it made my head pound and my body ached in response. I leaned over the bed, throwing up; which made them all jump back in surprise. _Well, that was effective._ I swiped my mouth and laid back down on the bed. Jeff was about to say something, but Alby cut him off,

"Greenie! How did this happen?"

"Jesus, Alby give her a minute! Bloody hell, she just woke up and you're already scolding her for something she didn't even do!" And there was Newt, always calm and helpful. I wanted to thank him right now, but I was afraid to move considering what happened last time I did.

I opened my eyes and glared at the leader of the Glade, "Does it look like I asked the griever to tear open my leg? You know what I did, I asked him to come slice open my leg and let me bleed to death! But here I am, still alive! Guess my plan didn't work out; sorry Alby!" I didn't mean to sound that harsh, but I was lying on a cot with a massive slice down my leg, that burned with a passion, and he was accusing me for the attack. Alby looked rightfully pissed, but I didn't care. He stomped out of the Hut leaving Newt, Gally, Minho and of course Clint and Jeff.

Gally rolled his eyes but said, "Glad you're not dead, Greenie," and walked out the door. Newt gave my hand a squeeze and ruffled my hair with a smile and followed suit. And once again it was me and Minho. Clint walked over with Jeff in tow and silently worked on my leg; Jeff put the salve on my cuts and bruises and Clint stitched up the rest of my cut. Minho stood at the end of my bed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He looked up from his staring contest with the tiles and met my eyes. He looked absolutely miserable; his brown orbs seeped with distress and pain.

He shook his head and looked back at the floor, "I'm sorry I killed you." His apology was barely a whisper.

My eyes widened with disbelief, "Minho, are you kidding me?" His head whipped up in shock. "Without you, I wouldn't be alive right now. I would've bled to death in the Maze," I shiver remembering the blood and not being able to move. "You saved my life, shuckface. I owe you." He smirked at my use of the Glader slang, but still looked upset. He walked over to me and gave me a big hug, but not too rough, very aware of my many injuries. I felt a lot of comfort in his hug and stopped thinking about what could've been and the pain. His strong arms wrapped around my frame, seemingly trying to protect me from everything around us. But it was over too soon, and he stood up and left; pausing at the door frame to say,

"Welcome back, princess." I rolled my tired eyes and laid back down. I wasn't willing to fit the invisible force pulling my eyelids down.

Jeff and Clint continued to work on stitching up my leg and with the help of pain meds, I fell back asleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

I finally wake up and feel a lot less pain from the first time. I stretch my limbs and move to get up seeing its about midday. Clint rushes over to me,

"Greenie! Hey, woah, you need to sit down."

"Clint," I say with an eye roll, "I haven't even gotten up yet, and I need to get out of here."

"Ouch, so sick of us already." He snaps with a slight chuckle.

"Oh, I know you're going to miss me! Don't deny it, you enjoy my company so so much." He continues to rebandage my leg and he lets out another laugh.

"Fine. Fine, you can go. Just come back every so often so I can check it." He says, relinquishing his hold on my freedom.

I smile at him and move to get up. I'm trying to run to the door, but it turns into more of a slow, clutzy stumble. With his help, I make it to the door frame, and I get semi-used to walking with a giant band-aid on my leg. I walk into the Glade without a destination in mind; I find myself wandering toward the maze walls. I don't want to relive that moment, but my legs refuse to stop. I sit down in the still slightly red grass, and take a deep, shuttering breath. Watching the events occur in my head again. _We were running; we heard the griever; we turned and ran back towards the Glade; it grabbed me and threw me against the wall slicing my leg open._ My leg throbs in recognition and I peek to look at the white bandages. I close my eyes again. _It almost Stung me; Minho fought it off and got it to follow after him; he ran back to me and picked me up; we almost didn't make it back before the Doors closed; we made it back; I bled to death; I was revived._ I can't stop my body from shivering, as the memory of the feeling of death passes over me. Tears slip over my cheeks without me allowing them too. I can't control any part of myself and its driving me crazy. I couldn't even keep myself alive after the attack, and now, tears are flowing, and sobs are wracking my body. I close my eyes, willing myself to gain control and stop the tears. I don't know how long I sit there, but it must've been awhile because when I finally regain my somewhat stoic composure, the sun is setting and someone's sitting next to me.

I turn to look at Newt, who also has his eyes closed facing the Maze entrance. He looks extremely calm but when he opens his eyes, I can see the rage boiling beneath the surface. He turns to look at me and gives me a slight smile, but its not his usual 'life is good enough and I'm happy' smile, but I know he means it as a sign of comfort.

"Ya know I used to be a Runner, Faith. Every day I ran the Maze looking for a way out. I turned around corner after corner and when it wasn't plainly in the Maze, I looked into corners and spots where there was nothing. I thought I would be able to find it, I thought for sure I would be able to get us out of here. Well, time and time again there was nothing." His focus remained on the hallway in front of us, but I listened intently to the boy next to me. He shivered for a moment, but continued, "I gave up and quit. I couldn't bear to look for a way out that I thought didn't exist and fail my friends anymore. I stopped trying to be alive." A single tear slipped out of his eye, and I scooted closer grabbing his hand. "But Alby knocked some bloody sense into me, and I started to come back. I learned to look at what I had and not what I wanted." Then he turned to me, "Faith, you can't let being here consume you, it will eat you alive. Have hope, have faith…" he said with a daring glint in his eye. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and stood up. He offered me a hand up and with a bit of a struggle and a couple laughs we made our way over to the Dining Hall.

Newt's words stuck with me throughout dinner, and while the table was loud and filled with friendship, I sat quit, secluded in my own mind. _I wouldn't let myself lose hope, I couldn't let myself sink into a pit of depression and hopelessness. No, I would be strong, for Newt and for the rest of the Gladers._ I sat thinking quietly and then allowed myself to re-immerse in the conversation. I laughed and forgot all about the worries of our seemingly out-of-grasp escape. But I did, however, notice a certain runner's eyes trained on me that night. I didn't move to make eye contact with him, but I knew very well he was watching me with extreme concern.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Okay wow, so sorry that it took me forever to update. I lost inspiration and didn't want to write for a while, but I'm back! Hope you guys enjoyed this long awaited chapter! Feel free to leave a comment or follow! Okay bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

After a few days, I could move my leg with only a few issues. I could walk around and almost run, but a few problems arose when I tried to sit down. I took me 10 minutes to sit down on the bench at the Dining Hall, all the while my so called 'friends' laughed at me. Every time I tried a new angle to sit down in, my leg just hit the corner in a new spot causing new anger and more laughter from the boys.

"Bloody hell, Faith," Newt said in between laughs "by the time you get set, it'll be tomorrow!"

"Yeah Greenie! Don't you want to sit with us?" Clint chuckled.

"I thought the Glade's princess was supposed to be graceful?" Minho asked incredulously.

With one final shove and the addition of another bruise to my leg's collection, I managed to sit down. The whole table finally exploded with laughter. I sat grumpily trying to eat my stew, while the boys completely lost it. Frypan fells backwards out of his seat, rolling on the ground. Newt was banging his hand on the table while covering his mouth with laughter. Jeff was mid bite when it happened, and now was choking on his soup. Clint could not stop giggling to save his life, and Minho. Oh, Minho was gone. His face was completely red with tears of joy rushing down his cheeks and laughter seeming to burst from his every pore.

Alby seeing the commotion walked over, and slapped Jeff on the back causing him to cough again. "GHRLCK," Jeff spluttered, trying to stop, with what seemed like little success. The boys quieted down for a few brief moments when Alby arrived.

"What in the shuck is going on over here?" Alby shouted. I blushed deeply, and all the boys turned to look at me, and their brief composure was gone, again. _Good lord, why did I think they were mature? Oh yes, let's laugh at the crippled girl, hilarious._ Alby looked at me confused, but I just shook my head at him.

After a bit, Jeff had stopped choking and Frypan was back in his seat. Minho wiped away the tears with a grin still plastered on his face. _He looked so handsome and happy when he smiled, WOAH okay Faith. Let's stop now, enough with the comments._ He did look really good with a smile, I slapped myself internally, _oh my god. Stop staring before he notices!_ Lucky for me, he didn't notice my blatant stares, but the British boy next to me did. He smirked at me, nodding his head between Minho and I, wiggling his eyebrows. I slapped his shoulder, and he stopped making the face but not without sending a knowing wink my way.

"So greenie, ya excited for the par- Ow!" Minho started but Newt sent an abrupt slap to the back of his head before he could finish. "What the shuck was that for?"

"She's not supposed to bloody know about it, you shank!" Newt scowled.

"She's gonna find out about it anyway!" Minho grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. I laughed at his deflated expression and he sent a smirk my way. "Oh, so Princess thinks my pain is funny? And I thought we were friends." Minho said in mock offense, putting a hand over his heart.

"You were the one that laughed at my pain first!" I stated, raising my eyebrows, testing him.

"Well, I… you see—it was just the…uh." It was too easy to mess with him, he almost looked actually concerned until I started laughing again. "You shuckface!" He yelled with a laugh as he stood up. I just blew a kiss with a wink and ran away. I swear I could see a light pink color in his cheeks before he started running after me. I ran towards the Deadheads, planning to use the trees to hide in, but before I was close enough to grab a branch, a massive force knocked me into the ground. We rolled around for a bit until we landed with Minho sitting on my waist.

He gave me a smirk and a pointed look, "Not very fast anymore are ya, Princess?"

I rolled my eyes with a smile, "Well, Minho, as you can see my leg is injured from when you know I was attacked." I attempted to roll over onto him, but instead he just pinned my hands down.

"Excuses, excuses," he said with another smug look, "Do you really think you're stronger than me too?" He loosened his grip on my hands for just a second, and I took the chance and pushed him and sat on his waist, with a triumphant smile.

"Hah! Did **you** think you were stronger than me? That's just sad, Minho really—"

"What are you shanks up to—MY BLOODY EYES!" Newt practically screeched from across the Glade. I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but blush as I realized how awkward the position truly was. I stood up quickly and offered Minho a hand up. He seemed to enjoy my embarrassment and blushing, which only made me blush more. Before I realized what was happening though, Minho had picked me up from my legs and placed me over his shoulder. I squeaked at the sudden movement and position change.

"Minho! What in the shucking world are you doing?" I yelled at him and slapped his back. _His very muscular back, might I add._

He laughed and said "You're injured, aren't you? Can't have a slow Greenbean now can we? Also, Glader slang sounds so weird from you."

"Yeah, well I can walk on my own. I'm not weak." I grumbled into his back but stopped resisting.

"Mhmm, that's what I thought," he said with a deep laugh that I could feel through his back.

We walked through the somewhat peaceful Glade, until we reached the Homestead. He walked inside and carried me all the way up the stairs until we got to the end of the hallway. I thought he would set me down and let me go into my room, but _nope_. He walked into his own room and set me down on his bed. He turned to his dresser-looking thing and started rummaging through his drawers. I wasn't sure if he wanted me to stay, or if I was supposed to leave, so I just sat awkwardly looking around his room. It wasn't much different from mine, it was almost empty except for his Runner's gear on the wall, and a few stray t-shirts here and there. Minho had turned back to look at me and stared at the floor as he always did when he was somewhat uncomfortable or anxious.

He held up a few t-shirts and a maroon sweatshirt, "I kinda outgrew these and I don't know, maybe you could use another change of clothes?" He scratched his neck but moved his eyes up to look at me.

I smiled, _I didn't think he could be so thoughtful, maybe this is just for his ego though. Meh I don't care enough,_ "What? You don't like my clothes now?" I said gesturing to my dirt and blood-speckled shirt.

"If you didn't want them, you could've just said it," he said sharply, he sounded slightly offended. Minho turned to put the clothes back in the dresser.

"Hey, wait Minho, I was just joking. C'mon, the Queen of sass should know when someone's being sarcastic." I smiled at him, nudging his shoulder. "I'll take them though, I don't really want to smell like blood and klunk anymore."

"Like I said, Glader slang sounds so strange from you, it's almost frightening." He said with a fake shudder as he handed me the stack of clothes.

"Thanks Minho," I gave him a quick hug and slipped into the hall into my room. I set the clothes down on my bed and went back to close my door.

"Night Princess," he said with a small smile as he closed his door.

"Goodnight Princess Minho!" I yelled, making sure it was loud enough for him to hear it through his door.

I heard a slightly muffled 'Oh come on!' and then closed my door smirking the whole time. I slipped out of my stained t-shirt; it wasn't the one that I was wearing when the attack happened, but none the less it was still dirty and just gross. I threw Minho's sweatshirt on, which was still big on me and was surprisingly comfortable. I put my hair up in a messy bun and laid down in my hammock. I couldn't help but to think about what had happened since I had gotten here. I had been into the maze twice, been attacked multiple times, and had basically died. I wasn't sure if I could really handle life here; I mean its been a couple of weeks and already so much has happened, it's overwhelming. But the day had exhausted me, and before I could panic anymore about my life in the Glade, I fell asleep. And the second my eyes were closed, I was back in the white-walled facility facing a younger version of myself and Minho, Newt, Alby, and an older man whose name I couldn't place.

 **Younger Faith was sitting in a small classroom that was all white with a few other students. Minho, Newt, Alby, and some other Gladers were all there with me though they looked quite young. The teacher was as older man rambling on and on about codes and genetic sequences. I looked over at Minho who rolled his eyes and slammed his head on the table, pretending to fall asleep. I giggled and rolled my eyes at his annoyingly hilarious antics. Minho didn't move from his 'sleeping' position until the strange man addressed him,**

 **"Mr. Minho, is there an issue?"**

 **He darted up and sat up straight, "No sir, of course not." It made me uncomfortable to see Minho, who was usually so sarcastic and not obedient, to be so submissive and following. It scared me, and I straightened and turned back to look at the teacher.**

 **"Good. Then I don't need to remind you what will happen if there is an issue?" The man drawled with power and a stone cold glare.**

 **"No, Mr. Janson." Minho said plainly, which made me think he was just reading from a forced script, and he wasn't actually scared of the man.**

 **"Very well," the man scowled, "I guess that wraps it up for today. Report to your dorms at 7:45, you're free to go."**

 **I grabbed my books and scrambled to get out of the classroom, followed by Minho and Newt. Alby waved a goodbye to us as we walked away; he was very quiet and seemed shy, oh well I thought, he's nice enough. Minho grabbed my arm and pulled me to walk faster, Newt pushing my back from behind, I laughed carelessly and let them pull me along. I made them stop though at my dorm and threw my books in, and they resumed their antics of pulling me to the cafeteria. When we finally got there, I sat at a table while they boys grabbed food for the three of us. They came back with three plates of spaghetti and some rolls.**

 **"I didn't think he could possibly talk about genetics and their codes for that bloody long." Newt groaned as he started eating.**

 **"Well Mr. Newton, it is so very important!" I said in a mock tone of Mr. Janson.**

 **The boys laughed, and Minho said, "He looks like a rat on drugs!" This time I couldn't help but laugh.**

 **"Bloody hell mate!"**

 **"What? He does! You know I'm right!" Minho defended.**

 **"Yeah, just be careful what you say, Min. We don't need a repeat of what happened last time." I shuddered thinking about what we had all suffered through the last time we made a snarky comment. Our table was quiet for a bit, but then Minho made another comment and Newt and I died laughing. Sometimes it was so easy to forget how terrible life outside this place was. We laughed for the rest of dinner until a voice came on the intercom, "It is now 7:30. All residents must report to their dorms immediately."**

 **I looked at the boys as we returned our dishes and walked down the halls. I was really glad I had friends like them in a place like this. It made life here so much easier. Suddenly, Minho picked me up and threw me over his shoulders, causing me to shriek and laugh again.**

 **"Minho! Put me down!" I shouted at the boy who just laughed and kept walking. I made a look at Newt who was walking behind us, and he just winked and chuckled.** ** _So helpful._** **I punched Minho's back the whole time, but my laughter gave away my façade that I didn't care. We finally got to my dorm, and he set me down. I gave him and Newt a quick hug, "Night guys!"**

 **"See ya later Faith," Newt replied with a wink.**

 **A few hours later, I was sitting on my bed reading my assignments when there was a rushed knock on my door. I got up and when I opened it, there was Minho, Newt, Alby, and Gally standing there with a bunch of candy. "What in the world are y—"**

 **"Shut up, just let us in already!" Minho cut me off before I could ask them. I opened the door wider, allowing them access to my dorm, and they quickly rushed in, with Gally and Alby on the floor, Newt standing against the wall, and Minho splayed out on my bed.**

 **"Wow, nice room ya got here." Newt said, eyes roaming around the room.**

 **"Yeah, its oh so spacious," Minho's voice was muffled from his face in my comforter. I playfully shoved his legs off the bed and sat down next to him.**

 **"So, why are you guys here?" I asked looking at all of them.**

 **"Well, we figured you could use a break," Minho stated looking at my books with disgust and pushing them onto my desk. "Were we wrong?" He questioned with a smug smile.**

 **I sighed and shook my head.** ** _W.C.K.D had been pushing me really hard lately with extra lab tests and more painful brain stimulation than usual._**

 **"That's why we brought the candy!" Gally said with a smirk holding up three large bags filled with chocolate and gummies. We all dove into the bags and stayed in my room talking about absolute nonsense. It was so comfortable and relaxed, and it just made me appreciate these boys even more. As annoying as they could be sometimes, I was extremely grateful to have them. I tried not to blush when Minho placed his arm around my waist, but I just leaned into his shoulder, cuddling up into his side. And so, we spent the night laughing and talking, totally forgetting about the camera in the corner of the ceiling.**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

 **"They should be punished! They continually break the rules, and they have to know the consequences!" Janson shouted at a blonde woman facing away from him.**

 **"Calm yourself, Janson. Faith is a vital variable for these Trials. We need to let her be comfortable and somewhat relaxed to have a control to compare her Killzone to. She needs to feel safe right now, so when she's in Phase One we can see her reactions. Without her, Phase One will be pointless; keep a close watch on her at all times." She paused watching the footage of them in the dorm. "Don't punish the boys either."**

 **"Yes, Dr. Paige, of course."**

 **Author's Note**

 **Okay another chapter! I know this is kinda a filler chapter, but I like the content of it! Hope you guys enjoy and feel free to leave a review or follow! Okay bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

I started back into consciousness with a dull throb in my head. Dull, but still very much there and painful. Words bounced around in my head, only a few staying long enough for me to hold onto them. "Vital variable" "Phase One" "Killzone" That one sound familiar, but I couldn't place from where. I feel like maybe Minho mentioned a plaque in the Maze that had the word; I'll have to ask him about it later, since I probably won't be allowed anywhere near the stone encasement around us anytime soon. Then, as soon as the words had been in my head, they were gone. Slipped away into my mind, but most likely the Creators were just messing with my brain. Sharp pain erupted in the back of my skull,

"Aghhhhhh!" I groaned quietly, shoving my face into my pillow trying to keep the other boys from hearing myself. I rubbed the sore spot and slowly it faded away. I was grateful to look up and not see the boys around my door, and I got out of bed.

The doors had already opened by the time I was awake, but some of the Gladers were still eating breakfast. Leaving Minho's hoodie on, I carried on downstairs to sit next to the second-in-command, Jack, and Hutton. Hutton and Jack were nice, they were fairly quiet and just liked to listen; they were also Brick-Nicks, so I guess they got to enjoy the quiet almost all day. Our breakfast had settled into a comfortable silence, until Hutton decided to speak up,

"Nice hoodie, Greenie. Looks comfortable." He said with what seemed like an earnest smile.

I shifted on the bench, "Uh thanks?"

"Where'd you find something like that hm?" Newt poked my side.

My face had turned red by now, almost matching the sweatshirt I would say, but instead of embarrassing myself, I turned to the boys.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." I said with a smirk as I moved to take the hoodie off. I had it halfway off, with my stomach showcased to the other side of the table. Newt must've finally realized what I was doing because he just about lost his shit.

"Hey, HEY! That's bloody enough, we get it." He jumped up loudly, pulling the hoodie back over my exposed stomach. I looked up to see Jack and Hutton's face completely red with their mouths agape, not knowing what to say or how to even react. I couldn't help but laugh, from time to time I forget that I'm the first girl they can remember meeting. It's a lot of effort to be everyone's first impressions, but I'm just prepping them for the rest of the world. I hope for their sake that the rest of the world's girls aren't like me; they wouldn't know what to do to save their lives.

Newt waved Jack and Hutton away, sending them to their posts for the day; then, he turned to me, his cheeks still slightly flushed as well,

"Really, Greenie? Was that actually necessary? I've never been more sure of two shuckfaces klunking their pants." He sighed with a small chuckle shaking his head.

"Of course, it was." I stated with an eye roll, "Someone's got to teach them how to deal with girls."

"Yeah, well it doesn't have to be like that," he grumbled, poking his eggs with his fork.

I just laughed and poked his side, "You love me, Newton" That triggered slight throbbing in my head; _hey Creators, shuck off! Please!_

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." He turned with a smirk on his face.

"Ouch Newton!" more throbbing, "I'm so deeply hurt!"

"Oh, can it, will ya? Besides, we've got a Gathering to get to." Seeing the evident confusion on my face, he continued, "You need a job, Greenie. We can't keep letting you sleep all day! Let's go," he said grabbing my arm, "they're probably waiting for us." He led me over to a large hut in one of the four corners of the Glade. Like all the other buildings, it didn't seem too sturdy or safe for that matter, but I went inside anyways. Newt pushed me towards three chairs in the middle of the room. He made me sit in the middle with him on my left. Alby walked in a few moments later, and I gave him a curt nod, and he stood to address the Gladers.

"Okay, I know our Greenbean has made quite the entrance into our Glade, but we need to pick a job for her, so she can really feel at home. Good that?" The Keepers nodded, and Alby sat down to my right. "Alright, Zart, Keeper of the Trackhoes, you first."

Zart stood and nodded at me, "She works hard, she has no trouble working in the dirt and takes care of the Gardens. I'm putting in a request for her." Newt scribbled that on his notepad, and Alby gestured to Gally.

"Look Greenbean, ain't no hard feelings. I don't think you're cut out for the Builders. Nothing personal." He finished with a shrug and sat down. He was right, I managed to fall over every chair or object they tried to build and broke at least half of them. I almost managed to nail Will with a nail a couple of times as well. I think it's best for the safety of the Glade. We went through a few more Keepers, the Brick-Nicks, Baggers, and Slicers all politely declined my services, much to my relief. And Frypan and the Med-Jacks requested me. I was wondering who was left when I remembered the Runners, I wonder if Minho was even here for this. _Probably not, he's too busy trying to get our shuck asses out of here to be here for my Gathering._ And then, Minho stepped out of the shadows in the back of the room. _Wrong. Wrong, I was so wrong. Of course, he's here. Of freaking course!_ My breath caught in my throat as the Keeper of the Runners studied me. He looked to Alby and started talking,

"She's fast. Nearly beat my shuck butt on her first day. Nearly," he said giving me a smirk. "And when I took her into the Maze, she kept up the whole and managed to get us back before the Doors closed. I think she should be a Runner." He said with such nonchalance, it sent shivers down my spine. I had died last time I was there, and now he wants me to go back? Either he's shucking thick or he's got a plan. Either way, I was unsure about how I felt about the stone halls that lay beyond here.

The whole room exploded with voices; each one voicing their own opinion on the matter. And each trying to be louder than the one next to them. Within a few seconds it had turned into a screaming match.

"Are you shucking stupid? Did you see her leg? Wait no, she died! How could I forget!?" Clint shouted from his seat.

"Minho, what the shuck are you on man? Do we need a Griever to remind you of that incident?" Frypan screeched, looking like he was going to hit Minho with—well a frypan.

Newt just groaned and put his head in his hands. Their shouting was really unnecessary, but I was touched that they all cared so much. Or maybe they just didn't want the resident girl to die off so soon. _Touching, guys, really._

"Hey shuckfaces! Slim yourselves! Minho, you better have a good reason for this klunk." Alby's voice covered all the boys', and they actually shut up with the exception of a few mumbles.

"Alright, alright. On her first day here, she ran into the Maze without any hesitation and she was faster than me. I mean I barely caught up after she was halfway into the hall. That's damn impressive and better than you thumb-sucking shanks. Also," he stumbled over his words, trying to figure what to say. "I think she can help us get out here. Why would the Creators send a girl, if not to have her help us? She could be the key to getting us out of the hellhole."

"Minho, you do remember what happened the last time she went out there, right?" Newt asked the muscled Runner.

"Yes, of course. I'm not an idiot." He said, turning to study me. His gaze was curious but there was something else there, I don't know what though. "I also saw her determination and skill, I think she belongs out there. She also survived the whole ordeal, so if that's not a sign I don't know what is." He finished with a shrug and moved back to the wall and leaned against it. I swore I caught I slight smirk pointed at me, but I averted my eyes back to the room around me.

"Alright Greenie, I'm not sure if Minho's right in the head, but that doesn't matter. You need to pick a job; so, what's it gonna be Greenbean?"

I stood up, cautiously to make sure I didn't fall on my leg, but with enough confidence to show them I wasn't afraid. I addressed the boys around me, "Well, I think there might be some truth to what Minho said," I nodded at the boy in the corner, "But I know Clint would murder me if I went back out right now. So, I'd like to work with the Medjacks until my leg is healed and then be a Runner." I sat back down, and Newt patted my shoulder with approval.

"Alright, all those in favor of the Greenbean's course of action?" Gally, Minho, Clint, Frypan, Nick, and Jack raised their hands. "All those against?" Only Winston raised his hand. "Winston, if you don't mind me asking, why?"

The blood coated boy shrugged, "I don't think we should let her back out. Since, she's the only girl, we might to keep her around and I don't trust the Creators enough to know what their plan for us is. She might even be a spy." The Keepers turned to stare at him, mouths open in shock. _A spy? Are you kidding? I nearly died and that's proof of me being a Creator, obviously._

"Sorry Winston, but majority rules. So, Faith will be a Medjack and then a Runner once healed." Alby spoke again, dismissing the Keepers. They all walked out of the room, some of them congratulating me, others just brushed by.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle the Maze again, it was what haunted most of my dreams now; always running and always dying. I was scared to fall asleep and scared to wake up the next morning. It was a vicious cycle and it was starting to take its toll on me. I was aware of the dark bags under my eyes and the lack of appetite was not new to me. But, still as much as life here scared me and that maybe there was an easier way to get out of here, I couldn't do it. There was something about these boys that made me want to stay, something that made me want to fight; I needed to go back in for this Glade and for my friends. I was snapped out of my thoughts by a certain blond in front of my face.

"You alright there, Faith?"

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine, fine." I mumbled back, although somewhat startled. I was too busy thinking to realize just Newt, Minho, and I were left in the room.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're scared, Greenie." Minho chuckled with a daring glint in his eyes. I rolled my eyes and started walking to the door. I felt a strong hand grab my wrist and turn me around. And there I was face to face with Minho, only inches apart. I stared at him with a stone-cold gaze, trying to read his eyes, but as usual, they're unreadable. He smirked at me,

"Not so fast, Greenie."

"Oh, believe me Minho, I'm so fast." I said with a smirk to match his and put my hands on my hips.

"Not as fast as me though."

"Right," I couldn't help but roll my eyes; he was so much sometimes, "And who was it that outran you in the Maze on my first day?" He looked a little flustered and maybe even blushing a little; _it was so easy to mess with him and quite enjoyable too._ He grabbed my hands with a huff and dragged me outside to meet Newt.

"We have a little surprise for you, Greenie." Newt smiled brightly.

"Faith." I said quietly, not sure or caring if they heard.

"We usually do this a couple nights after the arrival of the Greenbean, but you were uh—quite unorthodox, so we put it off until now." Minho was bouncing on the balls of his feet, like an excited toddler. With Minho and Newt dragging me over to the central part of the Glade, we arrived at what they called 'The Feast.' They're was a huge firepit that hadn't been lit yet, and a ring where Gally was fighting off some Gladers. Frypan had expanded his table and made massive amounts of our favorite foods. Some boys were playing makeshift instruments and parts of some old song. All the Gladers were milling around, genuinely enjoying themselves; some of them came over, said hi, and went back to their friends. Someone shoved a mason jar with some drink in it into my hand, as Alby stood up on a tree trunk.

"This month has been quite unusual for the Glade. We got our first girl." With that a round of cheers went up, but Alby continued, "We almost lost her, but thanks to our trusty Medjacks, she's still here!" Another round of cheers. "We are a family here, we look after one another and we trust each other. We are making the most of this Glade and we will get out! So, Faith welcome to the family!" More cheers and applause as everyone raised their glasses and simultaneously chugged them. I raised mine and took a tentative sip. It was extremely bitter, and it had a spicy afterburn which tickled my throat, but I liked it. I finished the rest of my drink and lowered my glass to see a group of the Gladers staring at me in awe. Then someone started shouted and so did the rest of them. _It really didn't take much to get these boys going._

"I'm impressed, Greenbean." Gally walked over to me. "No Greenie ever just downs their drink. They all spit it out and then get used to it."

"Well, I guess that makes me super special." I said with a smile and hair flip. Gally handed me another glass and raised his eyebrows. Catching on, I downed it again, and this time I felt tingles running through my body and laughed at the odd sensation.

"Enjoy the Feast, Greenie." He said with chuckle and went back to his ring.

Newt walked over to me with a glass of the brew in his and looking a lot less stressed. He's definitely had a few of those to drink. Together, we walked over to Frypan's table and got some food to eat. We walked around talking to some boys, and then sat down on a log together. And so, we spent the night laughing and enjoying life despite the hopelessness that constantly surrounded us.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

 **Minho's P.O.V**

I was sitting with the Runners, who kept talking about the Maze and the passageways. I had a couple brews, so I wasn't at my sharpest, but I was still aware.

"Shanks, shut up. Y'all shouldn't be thinking about the Maze right now. Seriously, you slintheads need to enjoy yourselves. One more word about the shuck Maze, and I'll throw ya to the Grievers." I told the Runners around me and passed around more of the brew. That always helped them to calm down, but I noticed it was doing the opposite for Faith. It was giving her more power and that dangerous glint in her eyes had appeared. She was sitting at a table across from Aidan, and they were having a drinking contest. _Of course, that sly slinthead would try and get her drunk._ She seemed to be holding her own pretty well though; she just seemed less tense and more relaxed. She was laughing a lot, her delighted giggle carrying across the Glade. She was so happy, but Aidan shouldn't be around her, making her like this. I watched with a flare of pride as she downed another glass, but Aidan stopped short, surrendering. She laughed again, and I couldn't help but to smile at this Glader girl who had already made such a huge impact.

I didn't notice her stumbling over until she was wrapped around my waste.

"Minhooo, I won the contest!" she slurred slightly, still pressed against my chest. I tensed my muscles; I wasn't exactly sure how to react, but eventually I just wrapped my arms around her back too.

"How impressive, and exactly how many drinks did you have?" I asked her, trying not to let my worry be evident. I didn't want any of these shuckfaces messing with her; she was perfectly fine of handling herself and I was the one that was going to mess with her.

She looked up at me with her stunning green eyes and with a smile, she said, "I lost count after 20." She giggled again and untangled her arms from me and pulled us over to the bar.

"Frypan! Can I please have another drink? Please?"

"Yeah alright fine, Greenie. But that's it, no more!" he handed Faith two glasses, one of which she gave me. I took a sip as I observed the girl in front of me. Her brown hair was wavy and framed her face perfectly, her green eyes were absolutely breathtaking, and although she had been fairly pale when she had gotten out of the Box, she now had a healthy tan glow about her. Whenever she laughed, she scrunched up her nose, and her smile was contagious. It hadn't even been a month, and I cared about her so much, and she had made this place so lively. I've been here since the beginning, a whole year, and I have never met someone nearly half as amazing as she is. As she finished her drink, she flashed a smile at me and went to dance with some other guys. I just laughed and watched her dance along to the song.

"Oh, bloody hell, mate you need to say something." Newt said as he sat down next to me.

"Can it, Newton. Even if I did, which I won't, she probably wouldn't feel the same." I sighed, taking another sip from the jar.

"Minho, I've seen the way she looks at you, it's pretty shucking obvious." He said chuckling at Faith, who had gotten some other boys to dance with her. "Plus, you'll be spending a lot of time together, now that she's a Runner."

"Whatever, I'm just worried about her. The Maze is pretty shucking horrifying." I said thinking about all the guys we had lost to it.

"I mean you're not wrong, but she's fierce, Minho. I don't doubt she would be able to defend herself if it came down to it." We both turned back to look at her. Aidan was back and was dancing next to her, a little to close for comfort. Then all of the sudden, he smacked her ass. She turned around and immediately sobered up, but she didn't do anything; just stood there looking shocked. I couldn't say the same for myself. I hurdled over to her and slammed my hands into Aidan's chest, effectively pushing him to the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I shouted at him, but he pushed himself off the ground to stand in front of me.

"What's your issue? You're just jealous you didn't think of it first." Aidan said, this time slamming his hands into me, but it wasn't nearly enough to push me over.

"You are not allowed to touch her. She is not your object, Aidan." I tried to calm myself down, but Aidan was taking this too far.

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?" He moved towards her and before her drunken self could react, he hit her ass again. This time, she slapped him, but I wasn't gonna let that be it. I grabbed him and shoved onto the grass.

"You shuckface!" I hit him hard, hearing a slight cracking underneath my fist. I hit him again against his jaw and then he punched my cheek, which only pushed me further. I punched him again and again until she was pulling at my shirt.

"Minho, stop. That's enough, stop it! Minho!" She shouted at me, pulling me out of the act. She looked horrified and on the verge of a mental breakdown. I stood up from where Aidan and I were fighting, wiping my blood off my face.

Alby had seen it happen and told the guys to put Aidan in the Slammer. Alby didn't address me however but told everyone to head to bed for the night. She dragged me towards the Medjack Hut and pushed me onto a cot. She gathered stuff from the cabinets and silently started treating my hands. I couldn't take the silence.

"Faith, say something."

"What do you want me to say, Minho?" She said looking at me, the pain evident in her eyes.

"I don't know, I just… I'm sorry he did that to you." She winced at the mention of it but kept wrapping my hands.

"Well, it was gonna happen one way or another, right? It's my job to be the girl, I guess." She had finished wrapping my hands and sat down across from me. If I hadn't been watching her so closely, I wouldn't have noticed the silent tears streaking down her face. "This is all my fault, Minho."

I grabbed her hand gently and pulled her into my chest. I tried my very hardest to hold her together as she fell apart in my arms. It hurt me to see her like this, she had become one of my best friends, and she was always so strong. But, sometimes the strongest people break. She grabbed a handful of my shirt as she sobbed, just letting herself go. I wanted to do much more to help, but this was the best way for her to help herself. We sat on the cot for an hour or so, just holding on to each other and taking in the comfort.

Soon, her breathing slowed, and she slouched against my chest, but still holding on tightly. I picked her up and carried her back to her room. I set her down gently on her bed, and I turned to leave to head back to my own room.

"Minho?" She was breaking down so many of the walls I put up, just by being herself. It was unfair, but being honest, I didn't really mind. "W-will you stay? Please?"

"Of course." I got behind her on the bed and wrapped my arm around her waist. She scooted back until she was flush against my chest, and I wrapped my arm tighter. She seemed like she was afraid to close her eyes, but not because of Aidan. I don't know what it was, but she wouldn't give into sleep.

"Faith, it's okay. I'm right here." With that, she visibly relaxed and finally gave into sleep. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic, and she looked extremely peaceful. I promised myself I would protect her always, I would keep her safe and happy no matter what. And with that promise, I closed my eyes and enjoyed being the one to hold her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Faith's P.O.V**

Loud beeping that wouldn't stop. That's all I heard as I was dragged from a dreamless sleep. And that just added to the rhythmic pounding in my head. As the beeping continued, the throbbing increased. "Ugh!" I turned in my bed, slamming a pillow over my head. There was a soft laugh behind me, and I moved the pillow to see a smirking Minho literally right next to me. I was about to shriek, but then all of last night hit me. The light in the room wasn't helping my head, so with another grunt I went back into hiding under my pillow.

"Good morning to you too, princess." Minho laughed with mock hurt dripping from his voice.

"I hate the bloody sun." was all he received in response.

"You've been hanging around Newt way too much." Another laugh and more throbbing. He needed to stop talking; it felt like a thousand balls were bouncing around in my head.

I flung the pillow off of my head and moved my finger to his lips, "Minho, please, for the sake of my head, shut up." He looked shocked at my finger, but then just smiled.

"What was that? I couldn't hear ya, Greenie?" He shouted with another chuckle.

"UGH! You're the worst!" Ignoring the slamming in my head, I proceeded to beat him with my pillow. He grabbed another one, and soon, we were having a full-blown pillow fight. I laughed as we hit each other with the pillows and I managed to get him a few times in the face, leaving him shocked before he moved to hit me again. We were dancing around the room, landing a few hits here and there, all the while laughing at how stupid we both looked. Minho gave up trying to hit me, as I had managed to escape a few hits, and he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I was yelling at him about unfair advantages when Newt walked in,

"Oh my-! Seriously? Do you two ever bloody stop?!" Minho was facing the other way and quickly turned around effectively slamming my head into the bed frame in the process.

"Ow! Son of a shuck! Watch it, Minho!" That really didn't help the throbbing. He quickly set me down, and readjusted my clothes, grazing my waist while doing so. His warm skin sent shivers through my body, and he was staring down at me with a smug look, like he knew the effect he had on me. I turned back to Newt, so he couldn't see my blush, but I'm sure he did anyways.

Newt sent me another one of _those_ looks, and I made a mental note to slap him later. "I'll see you shanks at breakfast. Oh, and Greenie, don't be late for the Medjacks." I gave a sarcastic salute and Newt rolled his eyes as he walked out of the Homestead.

I turned back to make a comment to Minho about abusing my head, but he had taken off his shirt, effectively making my mind go blank. He was facing the window, so I had a perfect view of his back, which was so toned and muscular. And then he turned around, _Oh. My. Sweet. Jesus._ I remembered seeing his abs before, but they were still very appealing. His olive skin was rippled with muscles across his arms and chest, perfectly toned and sculpted everywhere. _Man, running really did a number for him._ I looked up to find him staring at me, but I could tell he was looking over my body, not just at my face. I was slightly uncomfortable under his gaze, but only because I was self-conscience about my looks. I mean I never really did put much effort into my looks, but that was just purely for a lack of time. I shifted my footing, and his eyes snapped back up to mine. _Hmm, looks like I wasn't the only one staring._ I walked past him, and grabbed a blue-gray t-shirt, feeling his gaze on me the whole time. I faced away from him and quickly pulled the hoodie off, I slipped the shirt on and then turned back to him.

He hadn't moved and didn't say anything, so I just grabbed his hand with a sigh and pulled him into his room. He finally worked with me and took a t-shirt from his dresser and threw it on. _Ugh, another tight t-shirt that accentuated his muscles. It's just unfair, although, I guess my shirt was form-fitting too, so, now we're even._ Together, we walked towards Frypan's hut and sat down at a table filled with Hutton, Jack, Newt, Roy, Jeff, and Gally. The boys congratulated me on my new jobs and spent breakfast making fun of me for what I did last night.

"I swear, no Greenie has ever had that much their first time." Gally laughed, pointing his fork at me.

"Shebean downed at least 15 in matter of half an hour." Hutton and Jack chuckled. Minho looked at me, eyebrows raised, and I just slammed my head down on my arms.

"I'm surprised you're even bloody walking!" Newt added.

"Yeah, well Newtie, I'd much rather eat than walk," I said, gagging slightly at the aroma of food surrounding me. Newt chortled and slapped me on the back. After sitting with the boys for a while, I got up and headed over to the Medjack Hut. Minho came in right after me, to have Clint and Jeff check his hands. They rewrapped them, and he went running into the Maze after giving me a mock salute.

"Did you wrap his hands, Greenie?" Clint asked me, sounding slightly surprised. I nodded, and he continued, "Well done. Kept him from getting a shucking infection." We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the Slicers and some Cooks, and Jeff showed me different combinations of herbs and how to treat certain situations.

*TIME SKIP: ONE WEEK*

I've spent one week with the Medjacks cleaning up enough blood to last a life time. Alby had mentioned something about the boys getting hurt on purpose because I would patch them up, and I didn't doubt that. After everyone found out I was the one cleaning up the cuts and scratches, every single one came in complaining about a paper cut or a splinter or insisting they broke their ankle. It got on my nerves, but Jeff and Clint started taking them, and eventually, they stopped coming. I was rearranging the bandages and taking stock of our supplies when a loud blaring noise went off around the Glade. I immediately covered my ears and turned to ask Jeff what was going on; he saw my face and shouted over the noise,

"New Greenie! Looks like you're no longer the resident Greenbean!" That's where I had heard this obnoxious sound before; it had gone off when I was brought here, the start of my life with no memories. I hated the alarm. I hated it so much. Jeff lead me outside to the Box and within a few minutes the bell shut off. I found Newt in the crowd and moved next to him.

"Ya excited? I guess I have to actually start calling you by your real name, huh?" Newt laughed at my annoyed expression. "Maybe it'll be a girl! You can finally have someone to gossip with!" I punched his shoulder playfully and looked over to where Gally was opening the lid.

We all leaned closer to peer over the side to see-a boy. The boys around me must've been hoping for a girl as well because there was a chorus of groans as we saw him. He had fiery red hair and his face was covered with freckles. He looked to be about fifteen; and he looked really terrified of Gally. They finally got him out of the Box and I truly felt for him. I remembered how hard it was to come to terms with it all and be expected to go along with it. This place sucked, but life here wasn't too bad, considering all the people that made it much more enjoyable and worth it. Newt left to introduce himself and give him the Tour.

I walked back to the Hut and continued organizing our supplies. I worked for a few more hours, and then, I heard yelling coming from the Glade. I moved to see what was going on but before I had seen anything, a bunch of boys burst through the door supporting a heavily bleeding Minho. His shirt was soaked all the way through with his blood. He was hanging in between Newt and Jackson, trying and failing to support himself. The group pushed past me and laid him down on a cot. I snapped out of it and moved to grab supplies. I ran over to Minho was groaning and trying to get up, claiming 'I'm fine, shuckfaces, it's just a bit of blood.' I shoved him back down and told him not to move. He stared at me but nodded and stopped fighting the boys. With only a bit of hesitation, I tore open his shirt to reveal his bloody chest.

There was a clean cut carrying from his collarbone down to the end of his ribs. It wasn't very deep, but hell it was bleeding a lot. I cleaned the cut quickly with a bit of alcohol, earning a hiss from Minho, which made me feel terrible, but it was for his own sake. I looked over at Clint, who nodded, giving me a needle with a sort of string in it. I was shaking, but I had to stop myself before I pierced Minho's skin. I looked at the boy on the bed, who was staring at me and gripping the bed with white knuckles. He was covered in sweat and dirt and looked very intimidated by the whole situation.

"Minho, this is gonna hurt like shuck." I whispered with a look in my eyes that hopefully told him I didn't want to hurt him. He didn't say anything; he just nodded and squeezed his eyes shut. I looked back at his chest, where most of the bleeding had stopped. I moved with the needle in hand closer to the cut when Newt grabbed my wrist.

"You don't have any pain medication or anything? How is he supposed to get through this?" His face was full of concern, but I didn't know what else to do. I really didn't want to hurt Minho, but we had no medication for stuff like this.

"Newt, its fine. Faith, just do it." Minho grunted from his spot on the bed. He had his eyes squinted shut and his whole body was tense. Newt let go of my wrist and with a stuttering breath I put the needle through Minho's skin. I tried to keep the procedure as fast as I could, as I could tell Minho was in a lot of pain, but I refused to be the reason his cut would be infected. I stitched quickly and soon the whole gash was closed. Minho's knuckles had turned white from gripping the bed so hard, and his breathing had been rapid the whole time. I put the needle down and put my hand on his, trying to convey my comfort. His hazel eyes shot open and found mine. His breathing slowed, and he released his death grip on the bed. Clint shoved me out of the way, so he could wrap his chest, yet I didn't want to leave Minho's side just yet. I got a damp cloth and began cleaning the few scrapes and dirt off of his head. I gently wiped away all the sweat and grime, feeling his eyes on me the whole time.

I finished cleaning his cuts, and when I looked back down expecting to find his hazel eyes staring back; he had fallen asleep, breathing deeply but looking peaceful. I gave his hand a quick squeeze and slipped out the door after Newt. I walked out into the Glade, the warm air and slight breeze greeting my skin, and finding him leaning against a tree in the Deadheads with his eyes closed facing the heavens. He looked like he was in a lot of pain; not physically, but deep in emotional turmoil. I grabbed his arm and gently pulled him to the ground. He sighed and leaned his head against my shoulder. I looked over to see his eyes brimming with tears, but he didn't allow them to overflow.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this. Watch my friends almost die and then die." His voice broke my heart, I had only known him for a few weeks, but I knew how much weighed down on him. Practically, the whole Glade and life of his friends were left to Newt's hands. I couldn't imagine living a life like that.

"Newt, I know we're close to finding something. We have to be." My voice broke and my confidence had too, a little. Minho had told me they had been here for at least a year now. So many boys had died, and we weren't much closer to finding anything. The Maze changed and shifted, but no new information presented itself. But then, a burst of confidence filled my deflated heart. Minho and the other Keepers think I can get them out, I have to. I must be here, so I can help, and god damn help I will. "Newt, I promise I will get you out of here. I don't break promises or go back on my word. But, you have to be strong, these boys," I gestured to the boys milling around the Glade, "they need you. They look up to you and will follow you no matter what. You can't give up, I won't let you." He shifted and turned to look at me. In his eyes, I saw a lot of hopelessness and despair, but I also saw a flicker of hope. I was gonna turn that flicker into a fire. He wrapped his arms around me and sobbed quietly on my shoulder. I hugged him back, promising myself that Newt would survive this or it's on me. He eventually let me go and fell back against the tree with a sigh. A few minutes later, my voice sounded,

"What exactly happened to Minho?" my voice broke the silence.

 **Newt's P.O.V**

"Honestly, Alby, it's not a big deal! I bet you they'll be together in two weeks!" I chuckled at his disheveled expression.

"Newt, you have no idea man, I bet this is gonna take at least 4 weeks if not more. She-bean just got here, ain't no way they shacking up in two weeks!" he shakes his head at me, a smile playing at his lips.

"Alby, mate, you seriously misunderstand the power of love; two weeks, and you bring me breakfast for a month." I reach out to shake his hand.

"Four weeks, and you make breakfast for me for a month." He counters with a full on smirk, a rare sight for the leader of the Glade.

We shake hands and I laugh walking away to talk to Nick who's standing at the Maze Doors. The Keeper of the Baggers gives me a small smile, and we chat for awhile about nonsense, really. He thinks the two will be together in four weeks as well. Nick's a nice guy, really quiet and likes to be alone, but nice nonetheless. While he's telling me about his workers, I see a figure running down the hall of the Maze, not really limping but moving as if they're hurt. I shake my head at the thought as I see it's Minho running through. I wave goodbye to Nick and start to walk over to Minho. He collapses at the entrance, as he does every day, panting heavily for a few moments. As I get closer, I move to clap him on the back and make a comment about his dramatic entrances, when he falls forward without moving to stop himself from plummeting face first into the ground. His body lays still on the ground, and I limp over to him as fast as possible.

"Minho! Are you okay?" I ask the boy on the ground, with no response. I grab his shoulder and flip him so he's on his back. I gasp when I see the front of his shirt is slowly soaking with blood. He barely opens his eyes and focuses on me,

"Ah, Newt, its nothing. Just a scratch." He coughs and splutters as he tries to get back up.

"You bloody slinthead, sit yourself and slim it. That's not just a scratch!" I yell at the Keeper of the Runners, shoving him back to the ground. "Alby! Nick! Get the Medjacks! Minho's hurt!" Minho groans at my outburst and attempts to slap my hand but misses miserably resulting in a cough and more blood spurting from the wound. My eyes widen, realizing again just how much blood is leaving his body.

Alby and Nick are the first to arrive, with the Medjacks close behind. A group of random Gladers follow after, wanting to see all the commotion. By the time, Clint and Jeff assess the situation properly, the whole front of Minho's shirt is soaked. We get him propped up between one of the Baggers, Jackson and myself, and work our way over to the Medjack Hut as fast as we can. _This bloody limp is such a pain in the shuck ass._ Minho seems to have regained somewhat of his full conscientiousness because he's groaning and weakly fighting against our grip.

"Minho, slim yourself. We need to get you patched up." Alby states gruffly from the back of the group. The boy in statement rolls his eyes but stops fighting.

"Wanna explain how this happened?" My voice is slightly shaky, and I try to cover my concern with anger. Minho looks at me sideways for a moment before turning his hazy attention back to the approaching Hut,

"I was running just like normal when it popped out of nowhere. Barely had time to react before it graced me with this gash," he stated gesturing to his bleeding chest. "Scared the shucking daylights outta me."

"A Griever?" a voice questioned from the group of Gladers around us.

"No, shuckface! The damn walls attacked me, yes a Griever!" Minho shouts back sounding as irritable as ever. I laugh and continue towards the Hut.

We finally reach the building, and Nick slams into the door effectively opening it. Revealing none other than the precious Greenie, which I guess she wasn't anymore cause of the Box coming up, Faith. I give Alby a quick glance with a smug look plastered to my face. She stands there too long looking shocked with her mouth agape, making her look rather like a fish. Alby pushes past her and designates a bed for Minho. The Runner is no longer really conscious or unconscious but oddly in the middle. We move to set him down and as soon as we do, he starts fighting again. _Good lord! Minho can't let anyone help him for one damn minute. It's sure to be the death of him._ Faith seems to have snapped out of it though, pushing him down and starting to work on his wound. I look at Alby again, _they're definitely shacking up by the end of the week._ He rolls his eyes with another smirk and looks back at Minho.


	11. Chapter 11

**Minho's P.O.V**

There was a sharp, splitting pain in my chest the next couple of days. The stitches helped a bit, but only so much can be done for the slicing of skin. Clint decided I didn't have any interior damage, but Faith was determined to keep me confined in here. She was so concerned, it was actually somewhat funny when it wasn't annoying. She kept bouncing around on her feet, always checking my pulse and redoing my bandage more times than I bothered to count. She looked really cute all worried, of course, she wouldn't tell me she was worried. Always saying, 'you're my patient' or 'it's my job' or sometimes even ignoring me. But it was pretty obvious to everyone but her, I guess. Don't get me wrong, having Faith as my doctor made my recovery much better. She took good care of me, was good company, and as always was eye candy. Her muscular form was no secret as her shorts and tight shirts accentuated her muscles; and her curves were easily seen underneath her clothes. She was beautiful, and I was lucky enough to call her my best friend. But some little part of me, wanted to be more; ever since she arrived in the Box and ran into the Maze, I've felt this unprecedented need to stick to her side and protect her. But the stubborn shank won't tell me how she feels, because she won't talk to me. But I had a few ideas…

I had been lounging around in the Medjack Hut for 4 days when I couldn't take the isolation and laziness anymore. I stretched, rising up from the cot, careful not to rip my stitches. Sneaking out of the Hut was easy, Faith, Clint, and Jeff were all at lunch and patching up some seldom Slicers. I nonchalantly strolled out and basked in the bright sunlight and dirt aroma that was the Glade. I hate this place, it's not where I, or anyone else for that matter, belongs. Though this place blew major klunk, I guess it could be uglier. Shrugging, I made my way over to the Gardens, seeing the bobbing head of the second-in-command; though, I was careful to avoid the line of sight of a certain female Medjack.

"Newt!" I hissed quietly at the blond shoveling in the dirt.

"Bloody hell! Minho? Are you trying to give me a buggin' heart attack?" Newt yelped as he turned to face me, successfully dropping his shovel and spraying specks of dirt all over his face.

I stifled a laugh, "Ah! Shut it! Faith will hear you! I can't spend another minute in there." I jabbed my thumb in the general direction of the Hut.

"Not my fault you went and got yourself attac—and here I thought you liked the She-bean." He chuckled, wiping the dirt off his face.

"Of course I-," I caught myself, but Newt already knew my feelings toward the Glade's only girl. "That's not the point, Newt. I need to get to the Map Room. Maybe the Runners found something…" I trail off, Newt and I both know they probably didn't, but I still wanted to check over the new sketches.

"Alright, alright. I'll distract Faith and you sneak around the back of the Homestead." He nodded and walked over to the Greenie standing in the Dining Hall.

I tiptoed across the Glade, making sure every so often Newt still had her attention. Whatever he was saying to her was keeping her pretty occupied, which is good I guess. I was almost at the edge of the Homestead when I sent a final look back to the duo, to find them both staring straight at me. _Way to go, Newt!_ Well, it was too late to turn back, so I shouted, "Shuck!" into the air and made a run for it.

"Minho! You shuckface! Get your ass back to the Medjack Hut!" I heard her sprint after me, but I refused to look back. There was no way in a Griever's ass I was walking back in there without a fight. I heard leaves crumple just a few feet behind me. _Damn, this girl is fast._ Then all of a sudden, she was on my back! Clinging on, she added weight to my sprint, making it slightly more difficult. "Minho, please stop running! For shuck's sake man!" I only slowed, knowing I had made it just a few meters from the Map Room. I let her down and she slid off, moving to stand in front of me.

"Okay, Greenie, that's enough! I'm fine! Besides, my legs aren't even the thing damaged; So, there's a cut on my chest, it's doing nothing to prevent my legs from working!" My voice cut through her soft tone and she looked at me sharply, with a bit shock present on her face.

"I'm sorry, I was trying to keep you from infecting it! Shuck knows, you would've done klunk about it, if I didn't." her voice was coated with sass and if wasn't wrong, I thought I caught some hurt mixed in. My heart wrenched a little _; she was helping, but at this point, I should be running._ _There was no reason for me not to be doing my job._ Still, I felt a little guilty for yelling at her.

"Faith, you know that's not what I meant. My legs work fine! Alby and Newt are always blabbing on about 'order is where we find our peace.'" My brief anger had resolved by now, staring at her tranquil green eyes always calmed me down.

"I was worried, alright? I mean, it could've killed you." Her voice was soft, and her hand reached up to trace the light scar forming on my chest. My breath hitched; her touch sent tingles through my body and my heart felt as if it stopped beating. I tried to recover my steely composure, _how can she possibly have this effect over me?_ "What was I supposed to do?"

"Hey, I didn't die. I'm right here." I placed my hand over hers and shifted it to my steady heartbeat. With my free hand, I moved a piece of her silky, brown hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. Her eyes moved to mine and for the first time since I met her, I saw fear, pain, anxiety, and hopelessness shuffled together beneath her surface. Her gaze was usually tough and stoic, with a bit of joy laced here and there, but tonight, it was broken, all her woes rising to the surface.

I leaned closer to the tanned, dark-haired girl, so I could see her stunning irises a bit closer. I leaned my forehead against hers and felt her shiver at the sudden contact. She stared back at me, although her eyes darted down to my lips and back up to my eyes. I smiled and leaned in for something I had wanted since her arrival. Our lips crashed together and moved with a certain need and passion. I held her lower back and pulled her flush against myself. She wrapped her slender arms around my neck and ran her fingers through my hair. _Oh my god, this girl is shucking amazing._ Our mouths moved against each other, and our bodies seemed to fit together. Hers complementing mine and vice versa. She smelled like lilac and soap, and much to my pleasure it filled every pore on my body. All too soon, she pulled back and rested her hands on my chest and put her forehead against mine, once again. I felt as if the whole world was resting in my arms when I looked at the girl my hands held; well, _my_ whole world at least. She looked back into my eyes, and I saw her calm composure had returned as well as a smirk on her rosy lips.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, "I guess I have to release you now, don't I?"

I laughed at her disgruntled expression, "Yeah I guess so, princess."

"Okay fine," she waved her hand at me, "you're released." With a giggle, she ran back to the Dining Hall, leaving me to focus on the maps, which I was unable to do considering our recent interaction.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

 **Faith's P.O.V**

"Newt," I started, looking at the boy next to me on the bench in the Dining Hall. We were sitting at the end of a table, quietly enjoying dinner. I was grateful he wasn't interrogating me though, my cheeks still flushed when I thought about what had happened earlier in the woods between myself and a certain Runner. He looked at me expectedly, bringing me out of my thoughts, "I'm released from the Medjacks. My leg's healed, completely actually."

His eyes lit up, "Finally, Greenbean! And I here I was, worried thinking you were avoiding Minho and the Maze." I looked down at my food, I was avoiding the Maze, somewhat anyways. I was ashamed of myself, I was scared of giant walls of stone, all because of what? A cut on my leg? It was stupid. "Hey, wait, what's wrong?"

"I just—I… Newt, I died last time. I don't want to die again." I sighed, looking up to face the blond.

His eyes widened briefly before he shook his head. He looked at me again, his gaze softening, "Look, love, you've got reason to be scared. I mean, you died for shuck's sake! But I've said this before, eh? You can't let fear take over your life." He smiled brightly. His words helped calm the ocean of anxiety in my stomach, but I was still worried. "I also know Minho will never let anything happen to you. He's too bloody stubborn." He shook his head yet again and chuckled. I smiled at Newt and went back to eating dinner. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

I stood in the shower, letting the water wash over my body, taking deep breaths. _Today, I'm going into the Maze._ I waited until the water ran clear and stepped out, dressing in a grey tank top and dark green cargo shorts. _I'm going into the Maze._ I braided my hair and walked to meet Newt and the Greenie at the Dining Hall. _Going into the Maze._ Newt smiled and greeted me kindly and the Greenie looked too shocked to say anything, I smiled back and grabbed an apple. _Into the Maze._ Minho came over, squeezing my shoulder, and handed me a Runner's pack. _The Maze._ Minho and I stretched at the Doors; I lunged and pulled my arms behind my head, hearing a satisfying pop. _Maze._ Newt tugged my braid and gave a reassuring smile; Minho sprinted ahead into the stone coffin. _Maze._ With a staggering breath, I placed one foot into the cold hall. _Maze_ And then another, and another; quickly picking up the pace until I was sprinting next to my Keeper. _I'm here, in the Maze._ We ran for hours, turning corner after corner, no dead ends; soon enough, we were well outside of the innermost section. We came to a clearing in section 7, with giant, thin pieces of rusty metal rising up from the ground. The pounding in my head had returned, but it was dull and slight, so I easily ignored it. Each one seemed to be on a tiny pole, which made it seem as if they could rotate. I walked up to a few of them, examining each one closely.

"We call 'em blades," Minho stated calmly, looking at a few in the opposite row of mine.

"Do they move?" My voice was raspy, echoing around the bare, outer sector.

"Yeah. They can spin to form a wall; it cuts off this sector every other week." Minho responded walking back to where we had entered. The pounding in my head decreased when we walked away, but again I ignored it. The cold walls around us, intimidated me too much to investigate further. For another time. We finished Sector 7 an hour later, and within 5 hours, we were back in the Glade. Breathing heavily, we jogged over to the Map Room. And then walked to dinner, making light jokes back and forth.

Unlike my arrival here, the Greenie, Frederick had a pretty normal entrance. Meaning, tonight was another 'Feast.' I was sitting with the other Runners, enjoying Fry's cooking and having some of Gally's moonshine. This time though, I only had a few to keep myself sober and prevent another Aidan situation. I was talking with Fry, when the Greenbean addressed me,

"Are you the girl Glader?"

"The one and only, you're welcome." I took an overdramatic mock bow, earning a laugh from Frypan.

"Are you the only girl?"

"Take a look around shank, do you see any other girls?" I stated dryly, motioning to the boys surrounding us.

"Why?" his voice was really getting on my nerves. Plus, it was his second day here, he should be doing something else, crying maybe.

"Shuck if I know!" I threw my hands into the air.

"Well you look pretty weak to me, so I just thought there might be some stronger ones." He snapped with a shrug.

"Excuse me, Greenbean? Do I need to remind you that you just got here?" I retorted, raising my eyebrows. "Also, who even are you?" _Okay, I officially don't like this Greenie, not one bit._ Frypan laughed at that and proceeded to slap me on the back,

"Lookie here, Greenie. Faith's a Runner, pretty damn good one at that. I wouldn't go around testing things you don't know about."

The boy with bright red hair looked at me, "Why not? She's a girl, she can't do shit."

Keeping a glare with the boy, I yelled out to Gally, "Gally! I need the pit, now! I'm gonna teach this shuck Greenie a lesson." Some 'oohs' went up in the crowd and I stomped my way over to the sand pit. _I'm not in the mood to deal with misogynist boys, especially not Greenies. He is not going to forget tonight for sure._ Gally explained the rules and roughly shoved him into the center. I stood opposite him, not feeling the least bit worried. Bets flew over our heads and soon the crowd has split to stand on each side, respectably. All of them were on my side, except for a few boys that I assumed to be his friends. I just smirked, this should be a good chance to work on my skills.

"Show him up, Faith!"

"Beat his shuck butt!"

"Show us what you're made of, She-bean!" That one came from Minho, I could practically hear him smirking.

I took a defensive stance, Frederick following suit. He looked to be about fifteen, _hm that's one of our youngest, actually._ I was snapped out of my thoughts when he rushed me though, putting all his 'brute strength' into trying to push me over. I quickly sidestepped and turned to watch him fall onto the sand. The Gladers laughed, causing him to turn a color resembling his hair. He got up and took another defensive pose. This time he came at me fists flying, I blocked with my wrist and swung my arm into his side. He shifted to the side as a result of the blow and swung his other arm. I blocked again and used his momentum to swing my fist into his jaw. He stumbled back, clutching his jaw, eyes wide. That earned more cheers from my side, only angering Frederick more. He came running and I crouched down, sweeping my legs underneath his ankles caused him to land with a harsh thump on the sand. My 'cheerleaders' went insane, but I wasn't done. I quickly jumped on top of him, sitting on his chest and pinning his arms down with my knees. I landed a few lighter punches, and was about to go a bit harder, when his palm hit the middle of my face out of nowhere. He had escaped my grasp, and his hand went flying to my nose. I sprung off of him, using my arm to wipe the blood off of my face. It was pouring out of my nose, but I had to finish. I placed a foot on his chest and waited for him to surrender. My legs were incredibly strong, so he wasn't going anywhere. After struggling for a bit, he slammed his hand on the sand. It was silent for a moment, so I spit the blood that had flowed into my mouth out,

"Anyone else think I'm weak and would like to have a go?" It was so silent you could hear a pin drop, I moved my head around making sure there were no more challengers. Alby grabbed my hand and threw it high into the air; all I could hear, was their cheering and it made me grin from ear to ear. These boys have really grown on me. Minho came running up behind me and in a fluid motion, set me atop his shoulder. Newt came around the front and ruffled my hair with another classic smirk. Boys handed me a few glasses of Gally's brew and Minho set me down in front of the food.

"Did you bring me over here just so you could get food?" I asked, giggling at the Asian Runner in front of me.

He wiggled his eyebrows, "Uh, duh! Why else would we come over to the **_Dining Hall,_** Greenie?"

"Hey, no more Greenie! I'm Faith!" I wagged my finger at him, menacingly.

He brought his hand to my chin, once again sending shivers through my body; he carefully wiped away more of my blood, "Sorry, I meant princess." He finished with a laugh.

"Oh, I swear—you will pay, shuckface!" I shouted at him as scrambled away before I could slap his shoulder. I eventually snuck up behind him and gave him a quality hit though. It was hilarious. The next weeks went on like today had, excluding beating up a sexist Greenie. I ran the Maze with Minho and life continued in the Glade.


	12. Chapter 12

Every day I went into the Maze with Minho, running and mapping every square inch of the shuck walls that trapped us here. I had developed a pretty good mental map of the Maze, but still I scoured the walls looking for anything pointing to a way out. And sadly, I found nothing. I didn't lose hope, however; I still fought day and night looking for anything, something. The Maze had taken over my life; like I said, I ran all day and then studied the maps for most of the night. All to repeat the cycle the next day. Every morning, I entered the cold corridors with only the slightest bit of hesitation, but that lessened every day. Minho and I stayed out longer, got back right before the Doors closed, and then studied the maps. Needless to say, it was all I did for a while; all the month of Freddy's arrival. Minho and I had barely spoken, unless it was to change directions in the Maze. It was odd, but I was focused on my maps. I felt bad ignoring him, as he did try to talk to me quite a bit, but it was for his good, I was trying to find us a way out. Eventually, he gave up trying to talk to me and became very grumpy and irritated all the time.

And that was how things were for that first month of me being a Runner: disappointing, exhilarating, lonely, and very tiring. All these emotions were openly portrayed in my actions though. Newt pointed out the darkening bags under my eyes, my 'need' to eat more food because what I was consuming wasn't enough, and to top it off, the reckless shift in my behavior. I shrugged it off, even when he and Minho persisted about me getting help. Minho had had enough apparently that day though,

He yanked my arm and slammed me against the Maze wall when we were about half way inside, "Ok, shuckface! What is wrong with you?" His eyes glowed with passion and ferocity. I attempted to slap him away, but his forearm pushed me sharply against the cold stone. He pressed his arm against my collarbone and used his other arm to hold me down at my hips.

I felt my eyes roll in their sockets, "How many times do I have to tell you its nothing? Let me go, idiot." I resisted his grip, but he didn't budge.

"No. Not until you tell me what's up with you!" he growled.

"Minho. Back. The. Shuck. Off." My anger began to pent up inside, I could take care of myself, _I'm still alive at two months, aren't I?_ "It's nothing!"

"Goddammit, Faith! Can't you just tell me? You're acting like a shuck baby!" He shouted, his voice reverberating off the walls.

I pushed on his chest hard, and he stumbled back, but only by surprise. " ** _I'm_** not the one throwing a tantrum, Minho! If you have such an issue with me, **_you_** can just go back to the Glade." I seethed. In truth, I didn't want him to leave me alone, but my nerves were too fried to tell what my emotions were actually saying.

He scoffed and sent me a glare, "Fine, princess. Have fun on your own." He turned and starting jogging back around the corner we had just passed without a second thought. And just like that, I was alone. _Great job! I mean just great job, Faith! You're all alone in the Maze and what? Just because you don't want to talk about your emotions? Maybe about how that kiss made you feel? Hm? You're shucking idiotic. A round of applause is very much needed._

I shook off the thoughts and continued sprinting through the corridors without my running partner. My mind started turning gears again, and soon I was thinking about Minho, again. _That kiss, ugh, all it did was make me more aware of the Keeper of the Runners. He surrounded my thoughts, and that kiss had unsettled me. It came out of nowhere, but I can't say I didn't like it. I did really like the Asian Runner, but I felt it would only slow me down. But I can't avoid him, he means too much. UGH…._

I kept running for a few more hours, until I met with the outer section. We were running Sector 7 again, so I was at the blades. The rhythmic pounding started in my head, and I sighed aloud. I hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday and forgot to pack lunch today. I was already really dizzy when the wave of nausea passed through my body. I stumbled a few feet, trying to regain my footing. I ran only a few feet more, when the combination of the nausea, pounding, and sleep deprivation became overwhelming, sending me crashing to the ground. I clutched my head, wishing the pain away with no luck. A slice of pain whipped through my whole body, and everything intensified. And then, I was pulled under a cover of darkness; my mind happily slipping away from the torture and the Maze.

 **Minho and I were standing in yet another white-walled room. Except this room wasn't empty. It was full of beds, each with a setup of intimidating wires above it. I knew this wasn't the Swipe, but as Minho's counterpart, I had to help him during the test. I looked at the fifteen-year-old next to me, who shuddered slightly when he glanced at the contraptions. I nudged his side,**

 **"Hey, when did you get so tall? Who said you were allowed to be taller than me?" My voice was full of sarcasm, but it did little to cover my fear for the boy.**

 **Minho lazily wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "Since always, you were always the shortest." I gasped in fake shock and nudged him again. He laughed and was about to say something, but before he could finish the intercom interrupted our peace,**

 **"Subjects A7 and A8 report to bed 18 immediately." We both shuffled forward, sharing looks of concern but also reassurance.** ** _They weren't trying to kill us, I hoped._** **Minho took a seat on the bed and instantly, a group of doctors and scientists surrounded him, strapping him down and hooking him up to the machines. I pushed my way through and stood right next to his bed. I grabbed his hand and his panicky eyes found mine. Green met dark hazel. I smiled and watched as the sedatives worked their magic and soon enough his eyes clouded and closed. Ms. Clark stayed for a moment after the others left,**

 **"Faith, I need you to keep him calm and bring him down from the fear. It's a simulation for him, but this is a very real test for you. If you are unable to do so, your partnership will be terminated." Without a second glance, she stalked away, her heels clicking on the tile floor. I sighed and looked back to the boy on the bed; he was sleeping peacefully, and I prayed that I'd be able to get him through whatever was about to happen.**

 **About 15 minutes later, his dark eyes darted open. Although, they were glazed over and cloudy, they worked with intent. They shifted around the room, trying to take in wherever the simulation had placed him. His eyes settled on me, and before I knew what was happening, my best friend was screeching at me,**

 **"You son of a bitch! You did this to me! I'm going to kill you!" He struggled against his restraints, veins popping out of his strained arms. I stumbled backwards, landing with a hard thud on the wall. He continued fighting against the metal that bound him to the bed, until his eyes flashed down to his feet. They widened in shock before shifting back up to me. "What are you doing?! Turn off the water! I'm going to kill you before you even dream about drowning me!" He struggled again, and I snapped out of dreamland.**

 **"Minho! Minho, listen to my voice. I need you to calm down." Two orbs of hazel flashed up to my voice, but he stared back at his feet. "Minho, please. You need to focus on my voice." I grasped his hand and squeezed tightly. He stopped staring at the 'rising water' long enough to gape at me, "Min, it's me, Faith." He shook his head but was listening to me with intent. Happy I had his attention, I continued, "I need you to take deep breaths, you're not going to die. Fight back, do it for me, Min." His eyes cleared slightly for a second, and his sweaty hand gripped mine tighter. His breathing slowed and his struggle against the clamps on his body, stopped. The 'water' must've reached his head, because his face was scrunched up and his breathing stopped. Before he could pass out, his body went slack as the simulation ended.**

 **I dropped his hand and moved to sit back down, rubbing my face with my hands.** ** _How was I going to get him through another round of this, when I could barely keep him from killing me?_** **My brain didn't have time to answer, because simulated Minho was back in action. This time, his dark hazel eyes stared straight at me, and I knew this was going to have to do with our relationship; with a reluctant sigh, I stepped forward to greet the boy,**

 **"Hey, Min." my voice was shaking; I was sincerely hoping he didn't try to kill me again.**

 **"Hey, Faith." His voice was surprisingly calm, "What's with the machines? You turning me into Frankenstein?"**

 **I chuckled softly, "Min, they're just for some tests."**

 **"Okay, well, is it going to h—AGHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, his whole body tensed with intimate pain. His eyes squeezed shut, but he managed to get out, "What the hell, Faith?!"**

 **"Min, I promise, I'm not hurting you! You have to believe me, it's a simulation!" My voices quaked with fear,** ** _how dare the doctors turn him against me! My own best friend! W.I.C.K.E.D is too cruel for their own good._** **He opened his eyes and stared at me in shock,**

 **"Not hurting me?! You're the one who pressed the button that electrocuted me!" He seethed, sounding incredibly unlike the boy I grew up with. His eyes widened again, "Don't you dare press that button, AHHHHHHHHHH!" His body shook with more pain, and the tears flowed out of my eyes.**

 **"Minho, Minho! Look at me! It's a simulation, don't believe anything! Why would I ever hurt you?"**

 **"You're such a bitch! How could you do this to me? I knew you would always turn on me, I just didn't think you'd turn into a W.I.C.K.E.D snob so soon." His face contorted into a venomous snarl, "After all we've been through, this is how you repay me? What happened to sticking together, huh?" His dark eyes searched mine, and I sobbed,**

 **"Don't you dare say that. You know damn well, I would never abandon you!" He stared back at me and gasped out,**

 **"Faith, please. Don't press that button again. Please, don't. Press it and I swear on everything holy, I'll never speak to you again." His whole body went rigid yet again, and he yelled out only making my tears flow harder and faster. He groaned through the midst of it all,**

 **"If this isn't you, tell me what you said the night of my arrival." His voice shaking from a combination of anger and acute pain. I knew underneath all the pain, he was trying hard to fight and believe in what I was saying.**

 **Despite our situation, I smiled softly at the memory, "If you don't stop crying, I'm going to kick your pony-loving butt, I swear to ever living god." At my words, he softened, and a few tears rolled over his cheeks,**

 **"I knew you wouldn't, you would never do that to me."**

 **"Of course not, Min. I couldn't do that." I swiped away the tears running down my cheeks and ran my thumb over his cheeks, wiping away his tears.**

 **"Promise me." Dark hazel met green, again.**

 **"I promise." I sighed, he shut his eyes and succumbed to the sedatives.**

 **I sat down in the chair, the rollercoaster of emotions threatening to knock me over. Doctors surrounded the fifteen-year-old again, but I didn't have the strength to stand next to him. I heard heels clicking and then Ms. Clark was whispering in my ear,**

 **"That was a rather close call, Faith. Another slip up like that, and we have no choice but to terminate this." She said coldly, waving a finger in between Minho and me. I nodded reluctantly and slammed my head into my hands, rocking quietly in my chair.** ** _He's going to hate me. He's going to hate me now. He. Will. Hate. Me. He'll probably never talk to me again. I guess that'll have to do, as long as I can watch over him and keep him safe. I will not break that promise._**

 **His voice, broke me from my thoughts a few minutes later, "I don't know what of that was real. But I need to know, was that promise real?" He was staring straight up, refusing to look at me.**

 **I sniffed, "Yes, Minho. That promise was very real. I promise."**

 **"Okay, then. I promise you as well. I trust you, Faith. I always will." His voice broke, and I just nodded silently, at least W.I.C.K.E.D would always be unable to ruin our relationship. That was a fact and a promise.**

I gasped against the cold pavement, my head darting up from laying against the stone. It was dimmer in the Maze and when I glanced at my watch it said 4:00. I had two hours to get back to the Glade, which was normally a 4-hour sprint.

"Shuck. Shuck. Shuck." I mumbled, instantly rising to my feet. I gained a sense of direction and sprinted into the passage to the right of me. I sprinted as fast as I could, only managing to trip and stumble around a few times, _I was never a graceful Runner. And I would never get the chance to be, if I didn't run as fast as possible._ I grimaced at thinking of being here overnight and pushed my exhausted legs to run like never before.

It was 5:57 when I came within a couple lengths of the Doors to the Glade. I ran without stopping, I had to make it back. I skidded to halt trying to turn a corner and tumbled to the ground, as I scrambled to my feet I heard whirring and clicking coming closer. _Shuck! As if things weren't already bad! Now I'm really good and shucked._ I pushed myself off the ground and turned around the corner. I heard the Griever roar and ran harder. I was in the hallway leading to the Glade. I almost sighed in relief when I shifted my gaze over my side, where a Griever was charging from the end of the hall. I sprinted towards the Glade, hearing the Gladers' encouragement. They were shouting incomprehensible things, but I focused on making it through those Doors and to safety. I was about halfway there when the gears started moving. _No! God, no!_ The blocks of cement moved closer together, yet my throbbing legs listened to me and continued running. They were just a few feet apart when I reached them, I shoved my body through them. The giant gates were pushing in on my small figure, as if they were planning on crushing me. I scraped my arms against the walls, using any part of myself to gain momentum. With a final shove, I collapsed in the Glade, the furious shriek of the Griever shut off. I breathed heavily in the dirt, no one said a word. It was silent, as I wobbled to my knees and pushed myself off the ground to look at my friends. They were all staring silently at my dirt encrusted figure. I sighed heavily and straightened up having barely regained a normal breathing status.

I stared at the boys in front of me, Alby, Minho, and Newt all wore looks of insurmountable anger and concern. I opened my mouth, "Hey, guys." Alby charged forward immediately,

"What the shuck?!" He slammed me against the now closed Doors, pinning me by my shoulders. He pushed me off the ground a few feet, so now I was dangling in his grip. "You nearly get squished between the Doors and all you have to say is 'Hey guys'?! You better have a damn good excuse! You nearly died; you better start explaining right now!"

"Alby, as much as I would love to regale you of my adventures," I coughed, "you're making it increasingly difficult to breathe." He scoffed with a glare and removed his grip. I tried to land on my feet, but my knees went out, and again, I collapsed in the dirt. I coughed a few more times and looked up at the three boys remaining. Newt had sent the rest away I guess. "I may or may not have passed out in there." I blushed deeply, my voice barely a whisper.

To say they were angry was the understatement of the year. Alby groaned and walked away, claiming he 'needed space before he hurt someone.' Newt was shouting at me, mainly 'I told you so' and 'you're a right, bloody idiot.' Minho was absolutely pissed; he was going off about 'irresponsibility, lack of care for my life, recklessness,' and a lot of other profanities. I just sat on the ground letting them let off their steam. I had enough eventually though,

"Hey! Alright I get it! I almost didn't make it, but let's not forget I'm right here, shuckfaces!" My voice was hoarse and all I wanted was to go to bed. I slowly worked my way to my feet and took a step forward to walk to the Homestead, but my legs weren't functioning anymore. Minho's strong arms reached out and caught me before I could faceplant for a third time today. I grumbled against his grip, but he refused to let go. He picked me up bridal style and carried me to the Medjack Hut without a word. He set me on a cot and moved to stand against the wall while Clint and Jeff treated my numerous injuries.

Clint and Jeff patched me up, grumbling about careless Runners, but not before giving me a smile, _at least they were happy to see me_. They wrapped my left ankle and put some salve on my bruises and cuts. After cleaning up, they left me alone. Well, Minho was there, being silent, so it was like I was alone. After a while, he hadn't said anything, so I propped myself up on my elbows to study him,

"If you're going to go off again, save it. I'm well aware of how stupid I was, so you can wait until some other time." I laid back down and groaned at the pain it caused my overworked body. He sighed and moved onto a chair next to me. He put his face in his hands and spoke softly,

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier, but there was no need to pull a stunt like that."

I scoffed without looking at him, "You think that was because of what you said? Minho, I passed out because I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday and I haven't slept more than 4 hours each night in a weeks."

"You know, you make it so hard to care about you sometimes." I felt his gaze on my eyes, so I shifted to look at him. He look exhausted and stressed, but also relieved at the same time. Though, his dark eyes were still a bit hard to read, I could tell he was somewhat happy to see me. "Well, since you can't run away, now you have to tell me what's going on."

I knew he was right, but I was so close to rolling my eyes and telling him to shuck off. I shook my head and resumed looking at the ceiling, "Fine, you wanna know why I've been so distant? I care about you a lot, and you kissing me, made it a hell of a lot more difficult to focus on anything. So, I stopped talking and focused on the Maze. I was trying to find a way out so if we wanted to be something, it didn't have to be surrounded by a fucking Maze. I stopped sleeping, eating, and talking just so I could try and get us out of here." I snapped. I turned to stare at him, "Happy?"

He shook his head, but the ends of his lips turned up in a slight smile, "I knew you had a thing for me," he chuckled quietly.

I put my hands on my face and fought back a small smile, "Yeah, who would've guessed."

"Listen, though shank, none of that 'passing out, sleep deprivation, not eating,' klunk, okay?" He put a finger under my chin and turned my face to look at him. "I can't watch you do that to yourself anymore." I nodded in agreement, relishing the skin to skin contact I was having with the boy right now. I swear he's like the sun, he basically radiates off heat. "Oh and no more ignoring me, alright? I have no idea how you survived without talking to me for so long, but a month is long enough. Good that?" He had grabbed my hand and now was lightly squeezing it.

"Good that, Min." My voice was a hoarse whisper, but still it held a lot of meaning, for both of us. A promise. I didn't want him to leave, mainly because I missed his company so much, but when I yawned helplessly, he took it as a sign I needed to rest. Which I guess I did. He gave my hand a final squeeze, ruffled my hair, and walked out the door, without a second glance. I sighed and pulled the thin, scratchy sheet over my body. For the first time since I've become a Runner, I fell asleep easily and quickly.


	13. Chapter 13

**Minho's P.O.V**

Faith and I had been running partners for two months, and nothing was out of the ordinary. She no longer passed out and stopped eating, which was a relief, just one less thing to have to make sure of. _I mean I still looked after her of course,_ but now I didn't have to worry about her dying of exhaustion. Just dying by Grievers. _Pleasant, Minho. Real nice._ Of course, we didn't come across anything those two months. Everything was normal, peaceful almost. It was as if the Creators were giving us a break from hell, but of course peace never lasts.

We were in the final stretch to the Glade when I shouted over my shoulder, "Last one to the Glade draws the map!" I was ahead already and sprinted past the Doors and collapsed in the grass. I rolled onto my back and propped my head up and she walked slowly the rest of the way back. I laughed and laid back down, trying to catch my breath. I saw her figure bend over me and then her finger came flying at my forehead,

"No fair! You were already ahead, shank." She pouted, flicking my forehead.

"Not my fault, you move like a slug, princess." I shrugged, smiling at the dirt-covered girl.

"Ey! Not princess!" She yelped, flicking my forehead again, but she still offered me a hand up. I stood up, dusting off my pants and began making my way to the Map Room. I had barely moved a few feet before she grabbed my upper arm. I immediately tensed my arm in response to the unorthodox touch. "I'll do it, go shower. You smell worse than Frypan's fried mushrooms." She nodded in the direction of the showers and started walking away towards the hut near the forest.

I made my way over to the 'bathroom' by the Medjack Hut. It was also at the edge of the Deadheads and it could barely be called a bathroom. It was really just four stalls: two with toilets and two with a door and pails of water. _But hey, it works I guess._ I was just about to walk in when I heard a muffled scream come from the walls. It was quiet and hard to decipher, _hm it's probably nothing._ But then, I heard it again. Sighing, I made my exhausted legs carry me over to the West Gate. What I saw shocked me to say the least.

There in the hallway was a bleeding, screaming Gally. His clothes were ripped and visible from where I was standing, I could see the sting on his back. His arm was bleeding profusely, and he was attempting to drag himself to the Doors, _not gonna lie, he looked pitiful. But Gally was a nice guy, snippy but nice._ I hoped I'd be able to say the same thing after he went through the Changing. I dashed into the hallway and grabbed him underneath his arms, yanking him to a standing position. He stared at me, in what seemed like shock,

"Minho?" He gasped, body shaking from the attack.

"Yeah, it's me," I fought the urge to roll my eyes, "Just slim yourself, so we can get back to the Glade." Without another word, we hobbled back to the Glade, and I was almost at the Medjack Hut when he wrenched out of my grip. "Gally? What're you—" I was cut off when he landed a punch to my jaw, causing me to stumble back out of shock. He came charging again but this time, I grabbed his wrists and pinned him to the ground. "Newt! Alby! Gally's been Stung!" The Builder growled and attempted to push me off, but I didn't budge. My hand slipped for the slightest moment, and immediately he landed another punch to my shoulder, effectively moving my weight off him. I cursed my inability to take a punch and stood up as Gally did the same.

Gally's skin had already turned a ghastly green color and now his eyes were almost completely black, even the white parts. His body heaved with each trembling gasp he took, and his beady eyes darted around as if seeing something I couldn't. Without a moment's hesitation, he charged me while screaming at the top of his lungs,

"We can't leave! There's no way out! Ahhhh!" His weight overtook me, and we tumbled to the grass. We rolled around for a bit, neither gaining the upper hand. I didn't want to hurt the damn shank, but he was punching like there was no tomorrow. I was able to block most of the hits using my hands, but I did manage to gain a few bruises here and there. I felt my skin split above my eyebrows and with anger building up quickly, I shoved him back and jumped onto his stomach, taking the advantage. After battling for a while, Alby and Newt showed up, along with the Medjacks. Clint quickly hit Gally in the head, sending the burly boy unconscious. Jeff walked up to me, presumably to check out my injuries, but I waved my hand in dismissal. Newt's stare moved quickly from Gally to me then to Gally and back to me. Alby looked confused to say the least and all I wanted to do was shower.

"Damn shank must've run into the Maze." I stated, shrugging my shoulders, "Got himself Stung and a pretty nasty cut there. Ran in the West Gate and pulled him back here." I finished, my face and voice lacking any kind of emotion.

"Well, thanks Minho. Guess he'll go through the Changing, and then we'll figure out what happened." Alby grumbled still staring at the Keeper of the Builders.

"What a load of bloody idiots we're stuck here with." Newt groaned, wiping his face with his hand and facing the endless sky above. Alby and I both chuckled and walked away to go about our business, leaving some of the Baggers to bring him to the Medjacks. I tramped over to the showers and tore off the dirt and sweat covered gray shirt I had been wearing. I quickly cleaned myself up and walked back to my room in the Homestead.

I pulled a blue button down out of my dresser and was just finishing the buttons when there was a small gasp and stumble from the door. Before I could turn, I felt arms wrap around my stomach and light weight on my figure,

"I thought that was you yelling." Her voice drifted quietly up, and I smirked back at her, ruffling her hair in the process,

"Have some faith in me princess, I can take care of myself."

Her green eyes darted up to the cut on my forehead, but then came down and met mine and I sighed internally, _I could stare at her eyes forever. Ok, seriously dude stop staring. This is creepy! Stop!_ She smiled brightly and continued,

"Take care of yourself? What was this? Your first shower since 4 months ago?" Faith laughed and nudged my shoulder removing her arms from around my waist.

"Lies, it takes a lot to keep my hair this perfect." I laughed moving my hand to run through my hair.

She chuckled and jumped onto my bed, lying on her back with her head propped up on her hand. She patted the spot next to her,

"What actually happened?"

I accepted her offer and sat down on the rickety bed, "Gally was Stung."

"Stung?! Damn shank isn't even a Runner!" She shot straight up and stared at me, mouth agape.

"My thoughts exactly. He must've run in for some shucked reason." I chortled and rubbed my eyes. She didn't respond for a few moments, so I moved my hand to look at the silent girl. She was staring at the bed, eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought, and then her eyes widened and slowly moved up to meet mine.

"Oh my god, Minho." She gasped out. I could see the gears in her head turning, "The Box hasn't sent up another serum in at least two months."

/\/\/\/\/\/

 **Faith's P.O.V**

I sprinted out of the Homestead with Minho in turn holding onto my hand. I darted towards the center of the Glade knowing Alby would be at the Dining Hall. Minho kept up with me, which wasn't surprising considering he was **_Keeper_** of the **_Runners_** , but either way it was very helpful in my mad dash for the Leader. I saw him sitting at a table with Newt and didn't hesitate to push my way through the milling boys to get to them. I sat down with a dramatic sigh and before they could get out a greeting, the words fell from my lips,

"There is no serum." They looked bewildered and stared at me with confusion written all over their faces. With another breath I continued, "The Box hasn't sent up any more Griever serum in 2 months. That I know of anyway." Newt dropped his fork with a sigh and slammed his head into his hands. Alby looked at me discerningly and questioned my new knowledge,

"No offense, but how would you know?"

I wanted to laugh, but kept it in. _Now was obviously not the time._ "Alby, I spent a lot of time in there as a Greenie, and it was my job for a few weeks." He nodded in response, but his words were cut off when Clint came dashing into the hall,

"Alby! There's no Griever serum. I can't find any!" He gasped out, drawing the attention and panic of the surrounding Gladers. I looked at Alby and raised my eyebrows, but he just rolled his eyes with a sigh. He quickly stood on the bench and took our attention,

"Hey! I know that Gally has been Stung and Clint has informed me," at that I cleared my throat and glared at him. "Fine, Faith and Clint have informed me that we seem to be out of Griever serum. We are not going to panic! We are all going to look through the Homestead and Medjack Hut to find something. We are not going to let Gally die!" He finished, and a few Gladers nodded in approval while others mumbled and shook their heads. _This is going to be a long night._

Alby split the Gladers up into pairs, each one searching an area of the Glade or watching over Gally. Alby had sent Minho and I to watch over Gally and look through the Medjack Hut, much to my dismay. I mean I felt bad for the boy, but I didn't want to see another person Stung. But, Minho grabbed my hand and dragged me along anyway, and he didn't let go for a while. _Which totally wasn't a big deal, I kinda liked it, being honest. It was comfortable, and I felt good knowing he was right beside me._

Minho and I walked into the Hut and started looking through the cabinets. I couldn't find anything except for bandages, rubbing alcohol, and some scissors. While Minho held the flashlight, I searched through every box and cabinet I could see, and nothing. Suddenly, there was an inhumane groan behind us and we both jumped and flipped around to see Gally fighting against his restraints. I started to walk forward when Minho squeezed my hand. I turned to question him, but he just shook his head.

Completely disregarding his warning, I stalked forward and peered down at the sweat-coated Keeper in front of me, "Gally?" No response. "Gally, can you hear me?" Gally was quiet for a moment before his pitch-black eyes darted open staring straight through me. I jumped back but stumbled on the cot, sending my body crashing to the floor. Minho grabbed my arm quickly and pulled me up, my back flush against his chest. Before Minho had the chance to say, 'I told you so,' Gally started shouting,

"Why are you here? What do you want from us? Faith! You have to save us! There is no way out! Please!" His voice cracked, and tears ran down his face as his body was wracked with sobs. I pulled a hand to my face, trying to cover my shocked expression to no avail. Minho immediately flipped me around, so my eyes were hidden from the boy that shouted incomprehensible things at me. Suddenly, his crying stopped, and everything came to a stand-still.

Minho grabbed onto my waist and pulled me away to look at my face, which I'm sure still had an expression of shock written across it, "You okay?" My words were stuck in my throat, so I just nodded. He studied my face for a moment more, then nodded, "Okay, let's keep looking, yeah?" Minho pulled me away from Gally, and together, we searched through the rest of the Hut, eventually giving up and going back to meet the others in the middle of the Glade.


	14. Chapter 14

The whole Glade, almost twenty people, were gathered in the center of the Glade around the Box. It had been one full day since Gally's incident and no one had found any solution. But, Clint didn't seem to care and was giving us hourly updates. So far, Gally had only been getting worse; shallow breaths, slow pulse, shaking, the whole deal. It was not boosting anyone's moods, and that wasn't going to change unless Gally was saved. People were beginning to hope for miracles, which was begging for nothing, but I didn't say anything aloud. _I technically was the hope for these people, thanks Creators. But I felt helpless, I had searched everywhere, and nothing._ But like I said, I didn't let the Gladers lose hope and herded them around to look everywhere. While they were busy, I slipped into the Medjack Hut unnoticed.

I stepped inside, preventing the door from slamming shut, and with a shuttering breath, I peaked around the corner to look at the Keeper of the Builders. I almost wished I hadn't as soon as I did. His whole body was completely slack and pale. There was hardly any movement from him, except for the tiny rising and falling of his chest, _thank god._ The veins seemed to be more prominent if that was even possible, and he looked absolutely terrible. I took another deep breath and poked a finger into his chest. I flinched and squinted my eyes shut, hoping to not witness the blow I was going to receive. After no such pain occurring, I opened my eyes to find he hadn't moved. _Damn, he really is bad._ I was turning to leave when Newt came in yelling to a group of Gladers following behind him,

"I found it! I found the bloody serum! There was one tucked away in a storage trunk!" As his body slammed through the doorway, his eyes met mine and a confused look overtook his excited features. He quickly shook it off though, and without Clint's approval, jabbed the syringe into Gally's back. Clint stumbled through the door with Jeff on his tail and looked at Newt in pure bewilderment,

"Newt! What're you—Oh **_nevermind_** , I see you've already taken care of things." He crossed his arms and stared at Newt with a slight frown.

Newt smiled and walked over to the Medjack, "Sorry, Clint. I just did what needed to be done." He clapped a hand on his shoulder and walked out into the Glade. The Medjacks just shook their heads in response and moved to take care of the boy. I took that as a cue to leave and strolled out the door to get some food.

/\/\/\/\/\/

Gally's horrific screams of torture filled the Glade for a week; a few days longer than the average Changing. It was hard to bear, but we all pushed through hoping the memories that were returned to him were helpful. We all just needed a bit more hope to keep life decent here. But we never got what we wanted; After that week, Gally became the Glade's bully, pushing around the smaller kids, snapping at everyone, and being a jerk. Though it was through no fault of his own, except for when he ran into the Maze, he was incredibly difficult to deal with. I tried to keep myself calm, but when he messed with one of the younger boys, my mind jumped into action,

"Enough, Gally! Leave him alone, dammit!" My voice came out angrier than I had expected, and it took me by surprise. None the less, I still glared at the Builder across the Dining Hall.

"Stop acting like you own the place, shuckface! Maybe you should stop acting like a little brat and do some work." He sneered back with a smug face.

I slammed my hands down on the table with a loud bang, "Oh my god! Stop being an idiot for a millisecond! Leave the kid alone and while you're at it, pull that giant stick out of your ass!" My confidence didn't falter for a moment, and I proudly stood my ground. The Gladers sat gawking at the two of us, swinging their heads back and forth to see his reaction. His cheeks blushed momentarily, and soon his burly build was stalking over to me. He stood towering over me, but I looked up at him with a glint in my eyes. I knew I had pushed it too far, but he was testing everyone's limits too much.

"You listen to me, **_princess._** " He poked a finger into my chest, "I don't know who you think you are, but I recommend you take a step down before I make you."

I crossed my arms, and with an eye roll, snapped back, "Oh, is that supposed to scare me? Look," I returned the jab, "Captain Gally, just do us a favor and leave us all alone."

He stared down at me and didn't respond for a few moments before he leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Just because you helped us then, doesn't mean you are now." He turned his back and walked out of the Dining Hall without another word. I stood dumbfounded after hearing his quiet words, it felt like a warning. With Newt tugging on my sleeve, I decided it was for another time and shook my head to clear my mind. I looked down at the boy next to me, who smirked up at me,

"You've got a nice big mouth there, Faith. Better hope you can keep it in check." He laughed lightly, and I punched his shoulder, but with a huge smirk on my face.

Gally actually did leave everyone alone for the most part. He kept to himself and bossed around the Builders. I didn't get too close to him because I knew he would take any opportunity to attack me. His glare following me around didn't escape my mind; in fact, I was constantly aware of his gaze whenever I was in the Glade. I tried not to let it bother me, but it felt as if he were peering through my soul. And if I dared to look over my shoulder for just a second, I would find his eyes burning holes through mine and staring at me with his chin tilted to the side. I always flipped my head back around and hustled off to the farthest location away from him.

/\/\/\/\/\

After a few more weeks of tirelessly working as a Runner, I had been given a day off which I accepted gratefully and took advantage of. I waved a goodbye to Minho, who had grumbled on and on for about thirty minutes about a lack of a running partner before he finally shut up. I had already eaten breakfast, so I sauntered over to the Gardens looking for a certain head of blond hair.

"Newt!" I shouted once I found him. I smiled and waved when his head popped up.

"Oh lord. It's your day off, isn't it?" He whined slightly with a smile.

"Yep!" I smirked, popping the 'p'. "Which means I have nothing to do and will therefore, bother you."

He dropped to his knees dramatically, "No! Why me?"

I shoved him over and took a graceless seat down in the grass. He chuckled and continued plucking ripe fruit off of vines and weeds out of the ground. It had been a while, soon I spoke up again,

"Newt?" I questioned, he turned to look at me with a nod as his response, "do you ever wonder why we're here?" My thoughts had accidentally wandered to the 'dreams/memories' I had had about this place and what the world was like around us. A dull throb had returned, but I pushed it down without a second thought.

He studied my face for a moment, and then turned back to the weeds, "Yeah, sometimes. Why do you ask?"

My eyebrows furrowed in thought before I slowly mumbled out, "It's just… What could be so bad outside that they had to put us here?"

He laughed, but it wasn't jokingly, "Well, maybe, they're keeping the bad in here."

I sat straight up at that, "What?! You think this could be a prison?" My voice cracked slightly on the words, and I swallowed trying to quench the dryness that had spread to my throat.

"Well nothings for sure! We have no idea what happened to us! I'm just saying to consider the possibilities." He added with a shrug. I still stared at him,

"But, we're just a bunch of teenagers! What could we have possibly done?"

"I don't bloody know, but let's hope that your idea is the actual truth." He brushed the hair out of his eyes and smiled lightly. I nodded in response and walked to my room in the Homestead to try and get some rest.

 **The sky had dimmed rather noticeably, and I quickly jumped out of my hammock. I was about to move to the door, when I noticed a rather unnatural glow of light coming through the window. Instead of the pale, yellow glow of the Glade, the light was a fierce red and orange. I stumbled over to the pane of glass, and gasped when I saw flickers of red and orange flame dancing across the Glade while lifeless bodies lay strewn about in the tall grass. I faltered through the door frame that led to the Glade, looking for anybody that could help me patch up my friends. Nothing in the Glade moved except for the flames, continuously lapping at the wooden structures.**

 **I hopped around the bodies, swallowing more and more bile as I recognized each one. Zart, Hutton, Clint, Jack. All of my friends were laying across the Glade, unmoving with eyes glazed over and blood spurting from various wounds. I lost all sanity I had left when I found Newt and Minho huddled together, trying to stop blood from spurting out of Newt's chest. I hurdled over Frypan's bleeding body to get to the two boys, both of which had tears running down their faces. My faces matched theirs just the same. I reached the duo and grabbed Minho's shoulder. I wasn't prepared for what I saw.**

 **Minho's face was bruised with a giant gash above his left eyebrow to pair. His shirt had a bleeding stain above his stomach, and his breath came out in shallow heaps. "What the shuck are you doing here?"**

 **"W-what?" My voice faltered. "Minho, what's going on?"**

 **"What's going on?" He coughed, a deep spluttering gurgle, "Look what you did, Faith!"**

 **I took a step backwards.** ** _What I did?_** **"What are you talking about? I didn't do any of this!"**

 **"Oh please, shank. Just shuck off already." Another gurgle-y cough. He trained his eyes back down to his heavily bleeding friend, and I followed his gaze. Newt was a complete wreck, what was left of him anyways. His right leg had been torn off, leaving a bloody stump behind. His face was covered in thin cuts and slices and there was a blooming bruise above his ribs. In addition, there was a deep cut across his neck; Minho had pushed his hands down onto it, trying to stop the gushing red liquid, with no success.**

 **In Newt's last moments of his life, he craned his neck to glare at me with hurt written in his gaze, "Why? Why'd you do it?" I slapped my hand across my mouth as I sobbed and watched as Newt's life slowly drained from his body, being able to do nothing about it. Tears poured down my face, but my face quickly hardened when I heard Minho groan and slump the ground. I hurdled to his side and pushed my hands down on the gushing wound on his chest. He groaned from the pressure and roughly shoved me to the side.**

 **"Minho! Let me help you, you're gonna die!" my voice was shaky and squeaky; even I wouldn't trust myself, my voice showed how truly scared I was.**

 **"Get off of me, you shuckface." Was his response, he coughed once again, but this time blood dribbled over his lips. I quickly tried to wipe the picture of him coughing up blood from my mind and moved again to put pressure on his wound. All of his strength was presumably gone, so my help wasn't refused this time. I regretted looking at his face the moment I did; he wasn't dead, not yet anyways, and was glaring at me, eyes full of hate. His dark hazel eyes searched mine and I wanted to see forgiveness flash in his eyes, with no such luck.** ** _Of course not. Why would he forgive when I supposedly murdered the entire Glade?_** **After glaring at me for a few more moments, his eyes softened unexpectedly, and a few tears pooled. His voice trembled as he spoke,**

 **"I don't get it, I don't understand you. I-I thought we were fine, e-everything was good!" the anger and ferocity had returned to his eyes.**

 **More tears ran down my cheeks, I went to cup his cheek, trying to comfort him, "Minho, I-I"**

 **He abruptly grabbed my wrists with his blood-covered hands, with his final breath he whispered harshly, "I hate you." His arms fell slack letting go off my arms, and I fell backwards staring at the boy, who I thought I would never see the life, passion, courage, or strength leave his eyes. But there he was lifeless, his eyes glazed over and mouth hanging open.**

 **My heart wrenched and I sobbed harder, tears ran down my cheeks while I hugged my knees to my chest. Whispering "No, no, no, no, no." over and over again, the words becoming a prayer.**

 **My throat ran dry, "No!"**

 **Tears kept falling, "No, no!"**

 **Death surrounded me like a blanket, "No, no, no!"**

 **And then**

Newt grabbed my shoulders and yanked me out of my hammock, pulling my shaking body down to the ground with him. He wrapped his arms around my frame and pulled me tight against his chest, his warm chest. _That's odd, Newt's dead._ With tears still spilling down my face, I pushed the supposed-to-be-dead boy away. I curled in on myself, bringing my knees to my chest,

"Who are you?" my voice trembled, but I cleared my throat quickly.

"W-what? Faith, what are you talking about? It's me, Newt." His eyes searched my face, obviously confused as to why I didn't recognize him.

"No, no, Newt is dead. You're not Newt." I stared at him, watching as he turned even more perplexed. I continued, "I watched you die right in front of me."

He shook his head and placed his hands on my arms, "I'm right here, alive and well." He moved my hands, so I could feel his pulse, and slowly I let my legs return to the ground; breaking the barricade I had placed between myself and Newt.

"Newt? Promise you're not dead?"

"I bloody swear on my life, I'm alive!" With that vow, he pulled me into his chest again, letting me relax into his arms. I eventually slowed my breathing, and the tears stopped their journey down my face. "Was it a nightmare?"

I nodded in response, shuddering at the memory of the burning Glade and stench of death, "Everyone was dead. The Glade was in ruins and then…t-then I watched you and Minho die, and I couldn't do anything to help." I kept the part about it being my fault to myself; I already raised enough suspicion as the only girl and having memories and terrifying nightmares probably wouldn't help. So, I pushed more secrets to the back of my mind, ignoring how large the pile was growing.

Newt ran a hand through his hair, looking down at me with pity, "We've all been there, Faith. Even Alby and bloody Minho have had them. It's just a part of life here, I guess." His grip squeezed my shoulder, and then let go to help me stand. I stood up and marched out of the Homestead to try and relax for what was supposed to be a day off. I guess that excludes terrifying nightmares and panic attacks, _even better!_

Newt and I spent the rest of the day talking in the Gardens and then eating some of Frypan's casserole for dinner. All too soon, my day off was over, and the next morning I was running Section 3 of the damn Maze.


	15. Chapter 15

Six months. I've been locked in this stone prison filled with horrible creatures for six months. Half of an entire year. It's too much, _way too long to be here._ But I mentally kicked myself when I remembered the original Gladers had been here for a year and a half. Minho had been spending a lot of time in the Map Room, but of course refused to admit anything was wrong. Newt seemed more ponderous and quiet, but Alby just kept pushing through. None of the original group had lost hope, so neither could I. Although no one had mentioned the doomful time passing, everyone was in a terrible mood when the Greenie came up. I felt bad for the kid, yet the Gladers seemed to feel worse for themselves. I sighed at their ability to greet the Newbie without scaring the klunk out of him, even Alby's attempts were pathetic. I walked forward to the Box to see Alby trying to coax a head of blond hair out from the corner.

"Shuck it! Listen kid, we're not going to hurt you! Just let go of the damn knife or I swear—"

"Alby!" I scolded him, his head shot up to meet my glare and he studied my eyes for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and hoisting himself out of the Box.

"All yours, Faith." He gave a mock bow and moved to the side where Newt was standing with an expectant look glued to his face. I lowered myself into the Box and walked forward to find a young boy with a shock of blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He looked about sixteen and scared as hell.

"Hey, Greenie. Sorry about Alby, he's a bit of a klunkhead." That earned a scoff from Alby and laughter from the crowd above. "I'm Faith, can you tell me your name?"

He stared at me and slowly lowered his knife as his voice trembled, "No, no. Why can't I remember anything?"

"It's normal, Greenbean. None of the shanks up there remember anything 'cept their names either." I smiled motioning with a finger to the boys staring down. I caught Newt's eye for a moment and winked. "Your name will come back to you eventually, it's the one thing they let us keep."

His shock of hair whipped up at my words, "Who's they? Why am I here? _Where even_ is here?"

I put my hands up with a quick shrug, "We don't know. We just call them the Creators. Why don't we get you out of here, so you can see where here is?"

He nodded quickly, dropping the knife and together, we moved to the side of the Box where Newt and Gally hoisted the Greenbean up. Hutton gave me a hand up and walked off with a ruffle of my hair. Alby handed off the boy to the previous Greenie and told everyone to go back to work. I had turned on my heel to head back to the Map Room, when Alby added,

"Keepers stay at the Box. Faith, you too." _I just wanted to sit down_ , I sighed and walked back towards the Box. "Alright, Newt and I have been talking about any other possible escapes besides the Maze," murmurs sprung up throughout the crowd, "I know the Maze is likely our best bet, but what goes up must go down, right?"

"Alby, the shuck you talking about, man?" Frypan shouted out over the whispers spreading through the group of boys.

"The Box, Frypan." He shook his head slightly. "If the supplies come up from it, it has to lead to somewhere."

"Alby, we already tried that." Minho's voice added to the mix, "Remember, we tried to send Lee down? The damn thing wouldn't budge until he got out."

The leader nodded in response, a finger rubbing his chin, "Well, what if we waited until the Box left and tried to leave through the hole rather than the Box?"

The crowd murmured in response, and a sinking feeling entered my stomach. I got an urgent feeling that this was going to go very, horribly wrong.

I pulled Alby and Newt to the side, while the Keepers whispered to each other, "Uh, Alby? This sounds incredibly unsafe; any number of things could happen! We just don't know, and we can't risk-"

"Can't risk anyone's life. Yes, I know, Faith. Which is why if no one volunteers to go down, I will."

Newt flipped around to stare at Alby, "Wait, what?! Alby you can't possibly…what if you-you shouldn't-you can't!" Newt's mouth opened and closed, trying to form a coherent sentence, unsuccessfully. Without any supplements to his shocking statement, Alby gathered the Keepers again and continued with his speech. I turned to look at Newt, whose face had taken on a rather pale shade and worry creased his forehead. I shook my head slightly and pulled his arm back to the Box.

"I don't expect anyone to want to go down, but this could be an exit, so we have to try. Since, we don't need to risk anyone's lives I will-" Someone coughed from the back of the crowd, interrupting Alby's spiel. The Keepers separated, making a path through the middle of themselves, to show Nick standing at the back with his hand raised,

"I'll do it." His voice was calm and showed no fear.

Gally shouted, "Nick, man, you can't! You're a Keeper, we need you!"

Nick scoffed, and a smirk crossed his face, "You slintheads need Alby more than you need me."

Alby quieted the rest of the outbursts, "Nick, are you sure? This is extremely dangerous," he added in a low whisper, "Nick, you could die." Nick's spine straightened at Alby's chilling words, but nonetheless he nodded.

"Yeah, I know. I want to help us, get out of here. If it's through the Box Hole, great. If not, then it'll be worth it to know." A shudder ran through my skin at his willingness to try this. The feeling in the pit of my stomach deepened, and a grimace worked its way onto my face. The Builders brought rope to the Box, it looked like a lot, but for the trip that brought me here, I felt like it needed to be longer; but I guess it was all we had. Nick tied a harness around himself and with Gally, Minho, Frypan, Newt, and the other Keepers holding on, slowly lowered the Keeper of the Baggers into the awaiting darkness of the Box Hole.

 **Minho's P.O.V**

I was standing third in line, holding onto Nick's rope. I looked around trying to find Faith when I saw her standing at the Box's edge with a frown plastered to her pleasant features. Her green eyes met mine and she mouthed once she saw me looking, 'This is a bad idea; I have a bad feeling about this.' I nodded in response, 'Me too.' A mass of despair had dug into my stomach, causing me to feel very panicky about the whole situation. Still, I kept a straight face and at Alby's command slowly lowered my friend down into the Box. Faith and Alby stood watching, while the rest of us slowly lowered him down. I saw the last glimpse of his golden hair and then it was silent.

"Nick? You okay down there? See anything?" Alby's voice shook slightly, but he coughed and covered it up.

It took a few moments for the Glade to get a response, but it came eventually, "Yeah! I don't see anything, it's pretty dark down here." The Glade went silent again, except for the rare groans of the Keepers holding his weight. I wouldn't have heard anything if I hadn't been paying so close attention, but I heard it; a small click and then a sweeping sound. It was quick, but it caught my attention and apparently it caught hers too. Her head snapped up and she yelled, "Pull him up! Pull him up! Something's happening!"

Nick's voice joined hers, "Guys! I just heard something! Pull me up! Pull me-"

The noise sounded again, louder this time, and all of the sudden, half of Nick's weight was gone. I stumbled forward as the rope slipped painfully through my hands. I squeezed my muscles attempting to keep my hold on the boy. Frypan and I yanked the rope up and the Keepers tried to get him up quickly, but he had gone down a good length in the Box. Once again, his golden hair entered our vision, and I sighed slightly, _well he's still here_. I looked over at Faith to see her reaction, but I was disoriented at her expression. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open. She stumbled backwards, landing on her butt, clasping a hand to her mouth; tears were freely running over her fingers. I yanked Nick the rest of the way up, and soon I saw what she had.

Nick had been perfectly sawed in half at his waist. His upper body was missing its lower half. My mouth dropped open, staring at his glassy eyes and matted hair coated in blood. I let the rope slip from my hands. _Dead. Nick is dead. Just like that._ Faith, however, didn't seem to notice, or care; she ran over to where Nick's chest was lying and immediately put her hands on his bleeding torso. The red liquid easily coated her fingers and her tears were washed away within its depths.

Her voice broke through the silence in sobs, "Oh god! Nick! Nick, please wake up!" Her hands shook his shoulders, leaving bright red hand prints on his shirt. She sobbed and continued attempting to stop the flow of endless blood. I snapped out of the trance and stumbled forward, avoiding looking at Nick, _or what used to be Nick_ , my mind added bitterly. Newt came forward as well, realizing my actions.

"Faith. Faith, stop. He's gone." My voice covered her sobs, but she shook her head and continued pushing down. I sighed and put my hands underneath her arms and pulled her away from where the body lay. Newt stepped in front of her line of sight, blocking Nick from her view. She sobbed harder and my heart clenched; I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing away the pain that would haunt her and the pain her cries caused me. She kicked and tried to fight my grip, but I just kept pulling her to the bathrooms. I looked back once more, saying a mental goodbye to Nick and to see that the others were starting to clean up. Someone had covered Nick with a sheet, that had been quickly soaked through with the dark liquid; I winced. Alby had his face in his hands and Newt was on his knees staring down at the Box. I brought my attention back to the girl in my arms, who had gone silent and was staring blankly at the ground.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside the bathroom and over to the sinks. She sat down on the floor and let the tears come. I grabbed a cloth and ran it underneath the water. I sat down across from her and took her soft hands in mine. Slowly and as carefully as I could, I washed away Nick's blood from her hands. I got most of it off, but a slight stain still graced her hands. I looked back to her face and found her staring at me, one more, lone tear slipping over her freckled cheeks. Her eyes were as usual, stoic and calculated, but something inside told me, she was more broken than ever before. I wanted to console her, but Nick's death was looming in my mind like an omen, _hell, my heart hurt too. But she needed me._

Her eyes flickered back and forth between mine and she whispered, "I'm sorry. I couldn't save him."

No words of comfort entered my solemn mind, so relying on my instincts, I shook my head and pulled her head into my chest. I could feel my shirt becoming damp with tears, a mix of mine and her own, I think. My mind was too blurry to function at the moment; all I was completely aware of was a crying, broken girl in my arms and the death of a friend. I took a deep breath, and brought my mind back to the present, _Nick wanted to try the Box Hole. He chose to be a sacrifice, and we can't do anything except for use this as motivation to get out._ My eyes cleared, and I felt Faith had stopped crying and was just breathing softly into my cotton shirt. She pulled back slightly, and gazed up at me through her long, thick lashes. _That'll never get old._ I smiled lightly and cupped her cheeks with my hands, relishing the feeling of her relaxing into my grasp. Her hands wrapped around mine and I planted a kiss on her forehead. And with her hands on mine, I had found an escape from the Maze, from the death that blanketed our lives, even if it was only momentary.

The Gladers had eventually been informed of Nick's death, and after all the Runners had returned the next day, we held a funeral for him. With Alby's blatant orders, Gally and the Builders had constructed a half wood, half glass grave to showcase Nick's half-body. It was gruesome to say the least, and Faith's and Newt's expressions told me they agreed. Alby gave some speech about 'using his death for motivation, how it wasn't in vain, and some other klunk.' Almost everyone except the Keepers and a few Gladers believed him. It was silent as the Baggers lowered their leader into the grave, but slowly people began to leave, until his closest friends remained. I glanced up at the stars in the sky, finding another bright one that could be Nick. I counted the stars off: Nick, George, Ben, and Alfred _. Four boys, all deaths unfair._ Faith and I walked back to the Homestead together, and wordlessly she pulled me into her room. I took a place behind her on the bed, wrapping my arms around her waist and basking in her lilac scent. We both tried to sleep, but Nick's death was pushed to the front of my mind, resulting in weary nights and exhausting days.


	16. Chapter 16

I was running ahead of Faith at the moment in the outer corridors of Section 4; the most plain and ordinary of all the sections. She was jogging behind me, running slower than usual but according to _Admiral Alby_ 'we weren't allowed to stop for breaks longer than 5 minutes, spend less than 2 hours in the Map Room, or slow down.' Hence the reason, I didn't slow for her to catch up, no matter how much I wanted to pick her up and carry her back. She had been looking extremely exhausted ever since the incident with Nick; the bags had returned to her eyes, but she was still eating and talking normally. I shook my head, _she's definitely not fine, but she won't tell anyone about it._

I heard a stumble in the hall and flipped my head around to find her still standing but missing one shoe. I smiled and laughed at her,

"Maybe it's time for a break." She grinned at me as she retrieved her shoe.

"Yeah, it better shucking be. I'm dying." She raised an arm and wiped it across her forehead. I watched as she slumped down next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. "God, I wouldn't be so damn tired if Alby let me sleep for once. I've barely got time to sit down now." I laughed and nodded,

"Yeah, I'm really tired of this klunk. He doesn't seem to notice the consequences. Obviously, it's got something to do with Nick." A quick shudder ran through her body, and she scooted closer to me, wrapping her hand around my bicep.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "I'm not surprised, but he doesn't have to take it out on us." I laid my head back against cold stone, staring at the endless sky above. It was so blue, it looked fake. _Actually, considering the Glade and all, it probably was fake. Honestly, what isn't fake here?_ I closed my eyes, relishing having Faith next to me and the break from the constant running. Quietly, my mind slipped into a brief darkness.

"Minho! Minho, c'mon you shuck, we have to go!" Faith's voice whispered harshly in my ear, bringing me out of the common dreamless sleeps. I groaned and opened my eyes, realizing we were still in the corridor. With a quick glance to my watch, I noticed it had only been an hour. _Shuck, I fell asleep for an hour, in the Maze._ I looked over at Faith and found her staring down the hall,

"Faith? What's wrong-?" She clamped her hand over my mouth and nodded her head towards the end of the hall. I turned, still confused, but listened to try and understand what she was talking about. After a few moments, I heard it: a slow clicking and whirring, it was faint, but it was growing louder.

 _Nope. Not today. No Grievers today, thank you._ I stood up and grabbed Faith by her hand, pulling her to stand. Her eyes still hadn't left the end of the hall, it was like she was waiting for it come around the corner and attack. I grabbed her shoulder, shaking her vision from the walls to me,

"Listen to me, nothing is going to happen. I'm right here." She swallowed and nodded slowly. "But we have to go, now." This time she nodded quicker and I exhaled, relieved she had understood what I was saying. By the timing of the clicks, the Griever was far away, but still close as well. I interlaced my fingers with hers and sprinted through the walls with her right next to me the whole time. We reached the Glade with no issues or sightings of the Griever that had been so close to finding us. Sadly, I dropped her hand, and crouched over with my hands on my knees trying to regain my breath. It took a couple of minutes, but finally I was in control of my own lungs; I righted myself, stretching my back and arms as I did so. I straightened myself out just as I saw Alby stomping over to us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Faith straighten herself as well and brush a stray strand of hair out of her face.

Alby had reached the Gates and proceeded to shout, "And why are you back so early?" his voice was angry, and his eyes shone with annoyance.

"Hey Alby, how are you? I'm great too, by the way." I snapped quickly, smirking when I heard her chuckle next to me.

Something flashed in his eyes, but it was too fast for me to comprehend it, "I asked you a question, slinthead. Explain now."

"Alright **_Admiral Alby_** , a Griever was chasing us, so we ran back. Does that fulfill all your wildest dreams?" I answered curtly, rolling my eyes in the process. _Man, Alby knows how to get on my nerves._

"Well, did it hurt you? Attack at all?"

Faith snapped beside me, "No, but it probably would've." Her voice was sharp and had a bit of warning laced in. _Ah, so Alby was pissing her off too._

He scoffed, "Probably? Are you kidding? That's it?" Red flashed through my mind, _he has no right. No right, to talk to me or her like that._ Alby stepped forward, "Well, I suggest you **_probably_** start running again before I banish you both!" Faith stepped back in shock. Red was all I could see, anger seeped through my mind, yet I pushed it down, coming in control of my body a long time ago. Still, I clenched my fists.

I laughed and stalked forward, "Really, Alby?" I pushed him on his chest, " ** _You're_** to **_banish_** the Keeper of the Runners and the Glade's only girl? Two of your best Runners?" My voice shook with rage. "Listen, shuckface, we are not going back out there, we could've died. So, either find yourself two new Runners or back off." Newt had walked over during my rant and stood staring between Alby and me. The leader glared a moment longer, then turned and stalked off to the Tower. I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands.

"What happened?" Newt asked cautiously.

"We got chased by a Griever and then chewed out for coming back too early." Faith glared at the ground before breaking the stare to glance up at Newt. In turn, the blond boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair,

"I don't know why he's been buggin' out so much lately. I mean I know why, but it's just—it's not anyone's fault."

Faith nodded in agreement, and I let another sigh out, "Alright princess, let's go make that map, shall we?"

The girl chuckled at me and shook her head, "Yeah, alright fine. Let's go." She turned and made her way to the concrete room, she lifted her hand lazily, "See ya around, Newt."

I turned to face the boy, resting my arm on his shoulder, "Don't worry about him, Newt. We'll figure it out. We always do." He faced me and merely nodded, before facing the Glade again. I jogged towards to building, reaching it in no time, opened the door and closed it behind me, to find Faith already sketching the map of our run today.

 **Faith's P.O.V**

I glanced up half-heartedly, already knowing that it was Minho following me into the Map Room. I brought my eyes back down the paper in front of me, imagining the stone corridors in my mind as I maneuvered the pencil around the page. I could feel Minho's presence behind me, feeling his breath on the back of my neck made me shudder slightly. I marked the section number in the corner and put down my pencil. Minho put his head on my shoulder as a sigh escaped my mouth,

"You okay?" His voice was somewhat quiet, but it seemed louder since his mouth was right next to my neck.

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess. Just tired." That earned a chuckle from the Runner.

"Good that." He brought his arms around my frame, and for a moment I thought he was gonna wrap them around me, I inhaled sharply, praying he didn't hear me. But he moved his hand to a spot on my replica, "This wall isn't there. It's two turns to the left."

I laughed at that, "No way, I know I'm right. That wall is most definitely there."

"Alright, you got me. I'm impressed, you memorized the Maze pretty well." I turned around to face him, with his arms still on the table behind me; I found myself looking straight at his hazel eyes with his eyebrows raised. _He was so close to me, the last time we were this close…well._

I bit my lip a little to keep myself from smiling too much, "Yeah, well I am impressive. Thought you would've noticed by now." He smirked more at that, and I barely caught his eyes darting down to my mouth. He stared at me a few moments more, and it was oddly silent in the Map Room; oddly silent between the two of us. I was about to comment on his lack of comebacks, when I heard his voice huskily say,

"Shuck this." And before I was aware of what was happening, Minho pushed his lips onto mine. He grabbed my lower back and pulled me flush against him. I got over my shock finally, and eagerly responded, wrapping my arms around his neck. The kiss was tender and gentle at first, but at sensing my pleasure, it became more passionate as he ran one of his hands through my hair. Minho gently bit my lip and I sighed, unconsciously, but I realized as a smirk graced his face as he pulled back. I was dazed for a moment, but then opened my eyes to find his cheeks blushed slightly and a classic smirk on his lips. He brought a hand forward and cupped my cheek, "Man, I've wanted to do that for so long."

I smiled up at him. _This boy is too much._ I grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pulled his face down, "Then why'd you stop?" He smiled happily and once again his lips were against mine.

/\/\/\/\/\/

After a bit of fun, Minho and I just spent some time studying the maps; there of course was nothing new. Yet, there we sat on the floor, with me in his lap, comparing maps from all the sections. I was looking over a rather scribbly map; _Dmitri, of course._ He placed his head atop of mine, simultaneously throwing his map across the room.

"Hey! I was looking at that!"

"Were you really?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Kinda…well…Fine. Okay, no not really." I sighed also chucking Dmitri's map across the floor.

"Mhm, that's what I thought." He rested his head in the nook of my neck and squeezed his arms from around me. I nestled further into his grip, somehow feeling safe from the world around us. "Faith?"

"Yeah, Minho?"

"Are you my—Well, would you…would you wanna be my girlfriend?"

I turned to look at the boy behind me, with a huge smile on my face, "Yes, shuckface! Of course." He smiled radiantly and planted a kiss on my lips; it was short, but it felt right. It brought my mind back to my 'dream/memory' thing and I smiled again. _Minho truly has my heart._

A few hours later, after enjoying our scarce privacy, we emerged from the concrete room and walked over to dinner, hand in hand. My heart fluttered joyously: Minho was finally mine, and nothing had made me feel better than I did right now. He led me over to the Dining Hall, and upon seeing us. Newt jumped up and shouted triumphantly,

 _"_ Yes! Finally!" he laughed loudly, causing the other Gladers to turn their attentions towards us. They, in response, also began cheering with a few cat calls. I blushed slightly but laughed it off as Minho pulled me over to the tables. We sat down, and immediately Minho's hand dragged over to hold my waist, his thumb rubbing circles on my hip. It was relaxing and exhilarating at the same time, _the effect Minho had on me, holy shuck._ Frypan actually walked over to us to give us dinner and didn't leave before he made a few comments and sent me a few winks. Glader after Glader made their way over and made some comment, either making me blush or Minho glare at them.

All the commotion died down, and soon it was just Newt, Minho, Hutton, and Jack sitting at our usual table. The new Greenie that marked six months sat next to Hutton and Newt. _What was his name? Johnathon? James? Jake?_

"Wyck, what job did you get?" Jack questioned, nodding at the boy across from him. _Woah, alright. Totally off. Wyck. I need to remember that._

Wyck swallowed his bite of food, before answering, "Cook."

I took a bite of the tenderloin that Fry had served, "Did you make this?" I motioned to him with the meat on my fork.

He glanced up at me, "Oh no. I only cook breakfast and lunch, Mark has the dinner shift." I nodded and finished the rest of my food. We continued to talk as the sun set and everything was fine and happy, when Alby walked over. The conversation instantly died down, and he nodded at Minho and I before turning to Newt,

"You owe me breakfast, shank." He smirked very slightly before getting up and clapping Minho on the back and stalking away.

"That was shucking weird." I supplied, as everyone stared around wordlessly; apparently word had gotten around about Minho and his argument.

Newt shook his head, "I spoke with him a bit earlier. He's stressed, but all the Runners are back on normal schedule now."

Minho leaned back in his chair with a laugh, "Thank god. I swear I was about to shucking die."

I set my elbow on the table and rested my head in my hand, "Aw, too bad." Minho's head swung around to look at me, shocked but with an underlying smile. I could tell the rest of the table was attempting to stifle their laughs.

"Excuse me? What was that Shebean?" He poked my nose, causing me to swat his hand away with a groan.

"Hey!" I poked him in his sturdy chest, "You heard me the first time, slinthead."

"Yeah, that's the issue, isn't it? He grinned maniacally. _What's he up to?_ I sent him a look, with a tilt of my chin, but all I received in response was another sinister grin. _Yeah, I don't think I want to know._

"All right you shucks, I'm going to bed. Try not to miss me too much." I joked, the table laughed and sent me,

"No need to try, sweetheart!"

"Thank god, I thought you would never leave."

"Wait, I didn't even notice she was here!"

I laughed and waved a hand dismissively. I ruffled Minho's hair after he told me he would be up in a bit, much to his dishevel, and made my way to my room. I slipped a loose shirt on and got into my bed. Minho had been spending a lot of time in here with me. _Not that that's a bad thing or anything. It's great._ But laying down on the somewhat scratchy cot alone, was terrifying and too surreal for me. It felt oddly cold and pathetic. I shook off the thoughts and my exhaustion took over my mind.

 **It was quiet in the Glade, and all the Keepers were gathered around the Box Hole.** ** _Fabulous. I already know how this is going to end._** **My feet made no sound as the moved through the tall grass. I stood next to Minho and Newt, who were conveniently staring down the hole with black pits for eyes.** ** _Pleasant._** **None of the Gladers moved or said a word. With a sigh of relinquishment, I looked down to find Nick, who was still alive. His torso was gone, but he was still breathing and losing blood** ** _. I couldn't lose Nick again._** **I pushed my hands onto his gushing waist and pushed down. Either Nick didn't feel the pain or didn't react to it, because he didn't say anything, but his bright green eyes watched as I tore his shirt to create a tourniquet. The blood wasn't stopping, I could feel him dying slowly, and just as Minho had died in my dream, Nick grabbed my arm, pulling me close to his chest. His voice was ragged, but clear as he whispered harshly in my ear,**

 **"Why didn't you save me?" he dropped his head and fell back.** ** _Dead, again._** **I wanted to scream.** ** _How could I manage to lose Nick again? I couldn't save him the first time, and now, even in my own dream, I can't save him. No matter how many times I try, I can never save the boy who just wanted to escape._** **I tried to wipe my hands off on my shirt. The blood was too heavy, too thick, too red** ** _._** **I needed it off now. Nothing I did could get Nick's blood off my hands.** ** _I guess metaphorically and literally. Even better._**

I thought I was still asleep when I sprinted to the bathrooms. I think I managed to trip over a few Gladers, and almost fall completely a few times. Somehow, I made it to the bathrooms in one piece. I could feel Nick's blood seeping through my fingers. I could see the faint red, even though it had been weeks. I grabbed a cloth from nearby and scrubbed my hands, attempting to get off the blood that coated them so thickly.

 **Third Person's P.O.V.**

Faith sprinted through the crowd in a teary daze. She stepped on a few hands, earning a groan from the victims, and tripped over a few boys' sides. She managed to make her way through the crowd and sprinted over to the bathrooms. Most of the boys rolled over and tried to fall back asleep, but to no avail as Newt came stumbling down the stairs. His hair was disheveled in the dim light, and he looked absolutely exhausted.

"Wh- Where'd she go?" A few boys mumbled and pointed in the general direction of the bathrooms. He faltered on the stairs, then proceeded to run after where she was a few moments before. Newt rushed through the grass as fast as he could. For most of the time he had been upstairs, he had heard a couple of quiet cries, he knew it had to be Faith. And then he heard her fumble down the stairs and out into the Glade. He reached the stalls and heard running water and loud sobs.

And there she was, sobbing on the ground with water running onto the ground around her, scrubbing at her already red hands as hard as she could. Her tears came in hiccups accompanied by solemn cries of "God, Nick no! Get off! Get off! I'm sorry!"

Newt rushed toward the distressed girl and ripped the cloth from her grasp. Still, she continued to wring her hands and allowed tears to rush over her cheeks. She was hyperventilating, and Newt was panicking.

"Faith! It's not real, calm down!" He grabbed her hands and slightly shouted at the girl. She merely raised her eyes to his, "You need to breathe, it's not real. It's not your fault he's dead."

Her voice sounded raspy when she did finally speak between hiccups, "His blood is on my hands. I c-can't get it off." She yelled louder, "It won't get off!" Newt's mind couldn't think of anything else, so he flicked water onto her face and gripped her shoulders tightly,

"Faith! Listen to me! This. Is. Not. Real. You need to calm down right now!" Her breathing slowed slightly, and she wrung her hands with less intent. She stared at him with her radiant green orbs, dimmed only by tears.

"Okay." No more words spilled out of her pink lips. She only watched Newt as he turned off the sink and moved about the bathroom, cleaning up after disaster struck. A few moments later, Minho sprinted around the corner, looking around wildly for the duo. His hazel eyes landed on her, flickered to Newt, and then back to her. The concern in his eyes only grew looking at the soaked Glader on the ground.

Newt gave Faith a hand up, and she stood shaking slightly in her clothes. She ran towards the Runner and wrapped her arms around him. He placed one hand on her hair, smoothing it down, and ran the other through his own unkempt hair. Minho gave Newt a look with a raised eyebrow; the blond only responded by mouthing, 'Nick.' Minho understood immediately and slowly walked the girl back to his room, with Newt following beside them. He helped her to slip a sweatshirt on and lay down in the bed. She was asleep as soon as Minho laid beside her, yet he stayed up through the early morning hours to make sure no dreams or dead Gladers came to haunt the girl he cared so deeply for.


	17. Chapter 17

**Minho's P.O.V.**

Faith failed to even mention what had happened in the Glade bathroom a couple weeks ago. So, Newt and I simply tried to let it go. We didn't tell any other Gladers; our little secret. Of course, Newt tried to get her to talk to him about it, and I pried when I could, but she said nothing. So, for the moment it was forgotten, but it was all I could think about when she told me to meet her in the Map Room after dinner. _She just sat there in the water, soaked to her skin, simply screaming and scraping at the skin on her hands. Her skin had nail marks everywhere and was flushed red. Tears slipped over her freckled cheeks, and she just sat there tearing away at her arms; not even glancing up or taking notice of Newt and I. And when she did look up, her eyes didn't look completely aware, almost as if she was sleep-walking. They had a light cloudiness to them, yet she ran forward and grasped onto me like I was going to dissolve into thin air. Each of her fists gripped clusters of the fabric of my shirt and -_

My eyes snapped up to meet the soft brown of Newt's eyes. He raised a brow at me, nodding his head a touch as he did so. Newt always seemed to notice when something was up. Nodding back, I smiled and placed an arm around his shoulder looking at the girl across from us,

"You gonna kill us, princess?" she glanced up with a small smile but looked over at the table in the back.

"I wish. That would be more fun than this."

"Alright, that's it. I'm offended." Newt added, fake glaring at the girl.

"Oh, shut it. Just sit down, you shucks." She snapped with a chuckle. I shuffled forward to take a seat next to her with Newt just across from us.

"Okay, I feel like I need to explain what happened the other night," and then she faced me, "and what actually happened on my first day running." I squinted my eyes, trying to read hers, but to no avail. Before I could raise any of my numerous questions, she continued, "I remember bits and pieces of my past." _What. The. Shuck._ My jaw fell slack and Newt fell back in his chair: I would've laughed if it weren't for what Faith just said.

"W-Woah, woah, wait. You're telling me that you can remember your past." Newt asked as he pulled his chair back to its standing position.

"Yes and no. I don't remember my parents or anything like that, I remember some things about where we were before this and some other things." I opened my mouth to ask a million questions but closed it when she held up a finger in my face. "J-just wait. I'll explain everything." She talked about seeing flashes of our lives at a place called W.I.C.K.E.D and odd happenings when she pictured certain things. I had moved to lay across the table, Newt had taken to pacing around the room, and Faith was sitting on the floor.

"So," I spoke up after a few minutes of silence, "You have some memories and you have theories, that may or not be correct because of a sensation in your head."

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds stupid." She sighed. "But, that day in the Maze. My dream had told me we were test subjects. So, I wondered why we were subjects, right? And when I guessed a disease, the pounding increased. And," she began, leaning her head against the wooden wall, "someone spoke to me in my head. It said 'Stop trying to understand your dreams. If you continue, the punishment will be fatal.'" She finished slowly, staring at the ground. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. _Damn, what does the world have against her?_

Newt finally spoke up, "Well if you've been having these 'memories', why did you wait so long to tell us about them? I mean, surely, we could've done something to help?"

"I don't even know if they're true or not," she sighed. "But, my gut feeling tells me I'm not wrong."

"Okay, but even so, why does W.I.C.K.E.D feel like you should know these things?" Newt continued.

I picked my head up to study the two, "Maybe, they just wanted us to know that? Is there anyway that could help us get out?" I spoke.

"I would think so, but the pain is so intense and the message… I don't know, it makes me think I'm not supposed to know." She said, rubbing her eyes as she spoke.

"Well," Newt spoke softly and slowly, "Maybe we should tell Alby? I mean, shouldn't he know about all the bloody happenings around here?"

"Newt, dude. You're crazy. First of all, he would freak about it being a secret. Second of all, he would tear Faith piece to piece looking for an answer." I shouted, pointing lazily at my girlfriend.

"He could help us! Alby's our leader, he has a right to know." Newt argued. He swept the hair out of his face, "I don't want to hurt you, but if it could help us get out of here….."

"Minho, calm down. Newt, if you think it could help, I guess I'm willing to try it." I sat up and walked over to the brunette, I grabbed her hand, trying to be reassuring.

"What about the message? What if it kills you?" I whispered.

She cupped a hand around my cheek and smiled softly, "Meh. Let them do their worst. Plus, it'll take a lot more death threats to get rid of me."

I nodded and pulled her up, smiling myself. "That's my girl."

The next night, we pulled Alby into the Gathering room and Faith told him exactly what she told us. And by the end, Alby was raging.

"Are you kidding me?! You remember your past, and you told no one?!" he screamed at Faith, who sat relaxed on a chair.

"Partial memories, but sure. Yes." She spoke lightly, with an arrogance I couldn't help but laugh at, much to Alby's dismay.

"Why-H-how—Can you—any—ya know…what?" Alby floundered over his words until Faith spoke up again,

"Look, Alby, I don't understand it. I didn't ask for it either. I don't think it's all that useful, all it—"

Newt cut her off, "We don't know what it is useful for, but it does mean there is a purpose for us being here. A scientific one."

"There is something else." I perked up when her voice sounded again. I had been leaning against the walls, bored out of my mind, for this entire meeting. Her memories meant something, I was sure of it, but I couldn't figure it out exactly and that fact exhausted me. "Every time I run near the blades in Section 7, my head stars throbbing. Like not excruciatingly, but enough to make me run away from me. It increases when I go in further."

"Think about Section 7, now! Where could an exit be in there?" Alby shouted again, making Faith flinch, yet she closed her eyes in obedience. _The message._

I latched onto Alby's shoulder and yanked him away from her, "Alby! Listen to me, someone spoke to her in her head; they told her to stop trying to understand the dreams or the punishment will be fatal. Make her stop!"

He stared daringly back at me, "You want to sacrifice our way out for her?! Get out of my way, Minho!" He pushed past me to sit in front of Faith, who was already writhing in her chair uncomfortably. I stood rooted to the ground with shock, _when did HE become one to sacrifice lives?_ I stalked over to the group and squatted in front of her, gripping her hand in mine.

"Alby! Think about what you're doing! I've run Section 7 myself fifty times; there's nothing in there!"

"Shut up Minho!"

Faith squeezed her eyes shut and with her free hand, gripped the chair with white knuckles. A tear slipped over her cheek, despite her efforts to keep it in, and she whimpered. Alby's voice sounded again,

"Section 7. The Blades. They open every other week. Think Faith. Focus on where the exit is."

"Aghhhhhhhhh! I can't! I can't! My head!" She cried out, making both Newt and I wince.

"Alby, mate. Maybe we should—" Newt was cut off by another scream of pure pain. Faith's hands pulled at her hair and pushed at her scalp. Her face was contorted with pain and her screams were becoming too much to bare. I stepped forward again to stop him, but Alby pushed me down.

"You said a disease, what disease? What happened to the world? Why are we in here?" When all Faith did was cower and cry, he yelled again, "Tell me!"

When she finally did speak, it was a jumble of words: "The Blades…they are…we have to…the world. It's gone…of them…we can't."

Then, slowly through the whimpers and cries, she opened her eyes to shed more tears and fear. "I'm not supposed to. They will come…I can't." And then a stream of blood started flowing from her nose and her eyes shut. Her body plummeted forward, and I rushed forward to catch her while shouting profanities at Alby.

Newt had dragged our idiot leader away from Faith, while my hands fumbled around her neck. Her skin was frighteningly cold, and my head went into a panicked frenzy. The worst cases pushed their way to the front of my mind, and all I could think was _Dead. Another dead. Loved and dead._ All the impure thoughts were washed away when I found a slow, shallow heartbeat. But it was enough. I pulled her into my chest and hugged her tightly. I could hear Newt yelling relentlessly at Alby and then the scuffling of shoes when Newt came over.

"Is she alright?"

"She has a pulse, but otherwise I have no idea." I turned to face Alby who was sitting sulking in the corner, merely watching us. "You could have killed her! I told you and you didn't listen like usual!"

"Minho look I'm sorry…I-I don't know what came over me, I j-just. I don't know, I'm sorry." He sounded sad, but my heart still raged at what he did or could've done to Faith. My mind reasoned: _He's desperate! Give him a break, he's the leader. It's a lot._ But my heart told me to hold on to my grudge a little longer.

Newt spoke while watching Faith with a wary eye, "Let's just get her back to her room and keep this quiet. We don't need the others flipping out over nothing, eh?" I nodded slowly, picking her up as he continued, "Just take her through the back, and I'll handle Alby, alright mate?"

"Yeah, thanks Newt." He squeezed my shoulder and opened the door. I carried her back to her room with no one spotting us; She was completely dead to the world when I covered her with a blanket. No movements or noises, nothing showing she was alive beside the slight rising and falling of her chest, thankfully. That was all I needed and slowly I drifted off too.

 **Newt's P.O.V.**

Minho was already gone for the day; he had taken Dmitri with him on his run because no one knew the status of the lone, girl Runner. But I grabbed a piece of toast and walked briskly to make sure she was alright. When I walked into the quiet room, she was sitting on the floor staring at the wall, but like she was analyzing it. She barely blinked when I closed the door. But when I set the plate down in front of her, she gazed up at me with a simple expression,

"Hey, Newt."

"Uh hi? Are you alright?" My voice cracked slightly, but her nonchalant manner worried me more.

"Why wouldn't I be? I feel fine." She inquired with a raised eyebrow. That worried me even more.

"Do you remember what we did last night?" Her face contorted for a moment then she glanced back up at me.

"Uh yes. I told Alby about my dreams and then…then I don't remember what happened. I just remember telling him everything I told you guys. Did I fall asleep or something?"

 _Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Shuck! What the hell am I supposed to tell her?_ _Just be honest, the truth is the best option._ "Um, er…" Her eyes wondered silently what I was gonna say. But my mind questioned if truth was the best choice, considering what had actually happened. My mouth opened and closed a few more times, before my mind stood resolute with the choice to keep quiet. "It's nothing. C'mon let's go study the maps?" I had meant to sound like an order of sorts, but it sounded more like a question. She grabbed the plate and stood, walking to the door and out into the Glade, as if no traumatic experience had occurred less than 24 hours ago, but to her I guess it didn't.


	18. Chapter 18

"Minho, listen, I didn't tell her because what she doesn't know can't hurt her." I groaned at the whining boy across from me.

"Hey, when did you become the smartest person alive, Newton? Also, you mean 'what she can't remember'." He sighed taking his running harness off his chest.

"Obviously, her mind endured some trauma and it caused her to forget the experience. It's not exactly unusual."

"Oh, and what would you call living in a green square surrounded by a giant maze filled with monsters? Normal?" The Asian Runner snapped, staring me down with a glare.

I raised my hands, defensively, "Cut it out, Minho. I'm just saying, she can't recall what happened that night, so why stress her out with the fact that she can't remember that she passed out? I just don't see the point to making her upset."

"I just," He rubbed his face with one hand, "I'm worried it'll happen again, plus doesn't she have a right to know? I don't want to worry her either, but it just… I don't know." He sighed, slumping against the wall of his room. "She is all I have, and I don't even know how to keep her safe. I'm a shit-show."

"Look, Minho. We all don't know what we're doing. We're all stuck in the same pit of Frypan's stew and grass. But we have each other, we've got trust and companionship and for now that's all that matters. We all do our best, and Faith knows you care for her, you should know the same."

"Thanks Newt. Where is the She-Bean anyways?" He asked, standing slowly, stretching as he did.

"How should I know? Don't you have a tracker on her or something?" I sighed with a smirk moving onto my lips.

He smiled and slapped my back, "C'mon Newtie, I'm not that clingy."

The smirk slipped from my face just as quickly as it had appeared, "Oh god, not you too."

"Hmm," he scratched his chin, "I don't know, I think I like it."

I twisted the door knob and pulled the door open, pushing the obnoxious Runner out, "Just go find your girlfriend already."

He jogged down the hall, saluting as he ran, "Yes, Newtie!"

"Stupid shank." I mumbled under my breath as I walked into my own room.

"Hey! I heard that!" I heard Minho's voice travel up the staircase.

"Bloody hell!" I cursed again under my breath. "Good!" I yelled down the hall hoping it was loud enough for him to hear it.

 **Faith's P.O.V.**

I was in the Map Room, sharpening my knives, when I heard familiar footsteps enter the concrete room. "Hey, Min."

"What the shuck? How did you know? What, do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?" He queried as his hand flicked the back of my head.

I flinched and whipped around, dropping my knives and rubbing the now sore spot, "Well if I did, you would've just poked them out, congrats." He smirked at me, twirling a piece of my hair in between two of his fingers. "Ya know I was doing something before you rudely interrupted me." I glared up at him, though I wasn't mad at all. I was glad for the interaction actually, running the Maze everyday doesn't exactly involve too much social interaction.

"Oh yeah and what was that?" I could hear him smirking, I turned back to the table, picked up a blade with a sleek handle and faced Minho again.

"Sharpening my knives." I said matter of fact-ly, gazing up at him with a smile of my own.

"Well that doesn't sound murderous at all." He placed a hand on my hip and the other on my cheek, causing me to gasp internally and bite my lip externally. _I should be over this by now, but I guess not._ If it was even possible, he smirk widened and I set down my knife with slightly trembling hands, though I made sure he couldn't see how shaky I was.

"I think if I wanted to kill someone I would've by now, wouldn't you agree?" I winked and with a swoop, his soft lips were on mine. Like a lot of our make-outs, it was full of need and passion. He broke the kiss to plant kisses on my neck and collarbone, causing me to gasp again and move my hands up to run through his hair. I moved his jaw back up to my mouth and he captivated my lips with his again. He swiftly moved his hands to the back of knees, pulling and causing me to wrap my legs around his waist. He set me down on the table and his hands went back to caressing my thighs and back. My hands shifted to around his neck, where I could feel the leather of his necklace. The one with the key to the Map Room. Though, I would've enjoyed continuing our session, the key took my mind away from it all. I broke the kiss, fumbled with the key between my fingers, and sat breathing heavily on the table with my forehead against his.

"Min, do you really think we'll get out of here? I mean what if there is no exit and we're just supposed to live out the rest of our lives here?" My voice trembled, but I didn't want him to see the fear that I knew was evident on my face. I watched as his chest rose and feel as he took a deep breath, and only moved my head when I felt his finger pulling my chin upwards,

"Babe, they wouldn't trap us in a maze if we weren't supposed to find a way out. Every puzzle has a solution, we just haven't found ours yet." I opened my mouth to interrupt, but he continued, "I know its been a while since we got here, but that doesn't mean there's not a way out. And once we get out of this klunk, you and I can have a life together and live happily ever after."

I buried my head into his chest, my next words were muffled but I know he heard them, "You still believe in 'happy ever after's'?"

"You don't?" He chirped, wrapping his powerful arms around my back.

"I don't even know what I believe anymore. All I know is that, that life out of here with you sounds pretty shucking perfect. That's all I want after this monstrosity of a life."

He pulled back and stuck out his pinky finger like a 5 year old, "Promise me, She-bean."

I smiled and stuck out my finger to meet his, "Pinky promise." I jumped off the table after planting another pleasing kiss on his soft lips and grabbed his hand with mine. "I'll be yours forever and ever, Min."

His hand squeezed mine as we walked out into the Glade, "Sounds perfect, Princess."

**TIME SKIP: 4 months***

Today's Greenbean would mark a whole year in the Glade for me, and two years for Minho, Newt, Alby and the rest of the Original Gladers. But the less I thought about it, the less it bothered me, so that was my solution. Minho had agreed to let me run by myself every other day, and on the other days I would run a section with Minho by my side. Only issue was he tripped over a rock and twisted his ankle, leading to Clint practically leaping on the poor boy when he wanted to run the next day. Very begrudgingly, Minho hobbled around the Glade on a crutch, moaning and groaning at every person that walked by. Every morning he woke up, wished me luck with a kiss, and watched as I sprinted down the hall. I winked back at him before I turned the last corner and looked back to the concrete puzzle that awaited my presence.

I wondered how Minho felt about the new Greenie, being honest, he never liked the Greenbeans because they were annoying and asked too many questions. But we were all the same way, so its just ignorance. I turned another corner in Section 5, adjacent to 3 and 7. Section 5 was an interesting one, lots of dead ends and turns, this was also the Section that had the glass piece that looked into the Maze. I shivered at the memory of my first glimpse at a Griever. _Man, I hate those things. So gross._ I ran to the glass and slowed to a stop to check that all was well in the Glade. _As if I expected it to be burning to the ground the moment I left._ And everything was alright, no Greenie yet, but the Gladers were finishing breakfast and heading out to their jobs. A sigh of relief and I was back to running the Maze.

I sprinted the rest of the Section, checked for any odd occurrences, which to my dishevel, there were none, and started the journey back. I was almost back to the Glade, when I heard a strange noise coming from my left, probably Section 3, but I disregarded it as the Runner for that Section, probably Brandon or Dan. My legs carried me across the threshold to Glade, but Minho wasn't here to greet me like he usually was. _Probably sleeping or in the Map Room._ I gave my lungs a second to breathe normally and walked towards a blob of blond hair I saw in the distance.

"No Greenie yet, Newtie?" He turned around at my voice with a roll of his brown eyes.

"Will you please stop with that name? Even Minho has caught onto it." He groaned with a exhale, fixing his hair.

I laughed and spoke again, "Speaking of that boy, where is he?" I scanned the Glade for my boyfriend, but his head of perfectly styled raven hair was no where in sight. I turned my attention back to Newt,

"He said at breakfast he'd be in the Map Room all day."

"Alright, thanks Newt. See ya!" I turned and ran towards the Map Room and opened the door expecting to see him studying a pile of paper, but again, he wasn't there. My gut started to twist with bad feelings. I tried to shake off my worry as I ran towards the Homestead. _Please let him be here, taking a nap or something._ I saw Clint walking towards the Medjack Hut as I ran through the grass, "Clint! Have you seen Minho today?"

"I haven't, not since breakfast. He was supposed to come in, so I could rewrap his ankle."

I nodded and quickened my pace. With a growing feeling of worry in my stomach, I opened the door across from mine to another empty room. _Oh god. Where is he?!_

Back into the Glade towards Newt, "Newt! He's not in his room or the Map Room, and Clint said he hasn't seen him all day." Newt again, flipped around with a look of concern crossing his features,

"What?! He said…He said that's where he'd be…" He scratched at his head. I glanced at my watch: 4:07. _The doors closed in less than 2 hours, what the hell._

"Wait, Minho?" I looked to find Hutton standing next to Newt. "I saw him take Dan's harness and run into the Maze this morning." _WHAT THE SHUCK!?_ I merely blinked at Newt and Hutton before sprinting towards the Maze again. _Idiot. Idiot. Idiot! Of course, he would think he could run again. I'm an idiot for even trusting him! I should've strapped him to a chair or something!_

"Faith! You can't leave! You only have two hours before the Doors close!" Newt's voice of worry sounded from behind me, but I blew all caution to the wind before sprinting back into the stone corridors, but yelling as I went,

"Minho! Minho! What Section are you in?" My voice echoed around, as I strained my ears to hear anything.

I was about to turn into 7, when I remembered earlier the noise I heard in 3. I turned into Section 3 right as the Greenie alarm sounded back in the Glade yet sprinted along the route I had memorized in my head. It took me about an hour to find him, jumping on one leg in Section 3. I skidded to a stop, placing my hands over my head as I walked towards the stupid shank, "Are you shucking kidding me? What in that stupid head of yours told you this would be a good idea?" I yelled while flicking his forehead.

"Hey, good to see you too, babe." He spoke with a small smirk on his face, though I could tell he was trying to hide the grimace, likely from the pain of his ankle. _Stupid shuckface._

I yanked an arm around my shoulders, taking some of his weight, "Oh shut it, you shuckface. Let's just go before we have to stay the night with the Grievers."

"Good that." And with that we began the painstaking journey of half running, half limping back to the Glade. We were almost there, when I began to get tired. Minho was stalky and muscular, and I was strong, but nimble and thin. After holding him for so long my arms were tired, and running all day caused my legs to ache worse than ever. Neither of us said anything though, as our remaining daylight time diminished and my body begged to stop. We both knew the seriousness of the situation: we had to keep moving or we both die in a maze full of monsters. All my mind could think about was keeping Minho safe and taking a nap in nice, safe, green grass of the Glade.

It was 5:53 when we were in the last hallway of the Glade, Gladers were gathered around the Gates, yelling again. It brought my mind back to the night I had died and been resurrected. _Not again_. I focused on listening to Minho's and I labored breathing and the lack of time we had to waste. 5:59 and our feet touched the grass. Hands reached out to lift Minho's weight from my shoulders, and it was all I could do to not faceplant right there. But I was too tired, so I fell to my knees and listened the Doors close for the night.

I heard Newt's, Clint's, Alby's voice reaching out and Minho's was still right beside me. I sat up, rested my head on Minho's shoulder and looked up to see Newt and Clint's faces directly in front of me. Newt had a frown plastered to his features and Clint was raging angry when he looked at Minho, but only worried when he glanced at me. I watched as Clint rewrapped Minho's more purple and swollen ankle, Alby dispersed the crowd of worried Gladers, and Newt's mouth moved to form words that for some reason I couldn't hear. I blinked a couple times and he came back into focus with audio this time,

"What?"

"I asked if you're alright?" His brows furrowed as he repeated the question.

"Oh, oh. Yeah, I guess so, I could use some pain killers though." Clint laughed at that as he continued working on Minho's ankle,

"Yeah, me too, Faith."

"Count me in." I heard Minho add.

"Yeah, yeah. You can have some after dinner." Clint directed, offering Minho a hand up, while handing him his crutch.

Newt offered his hand to me, but I just stared at him, "I would love food as well, but I think my knees may give out if I stand up."

"C'mon shank, I'll help you out." Newt chuckled, grabbing both of my arms with his hands and pulling. He wrapped an arm around my waist, giving me the much needed support system to get to the Dining Hall.


End file.
